An immense store of lithium-rich clay has been located beneath an ancient volcanic crater situated near the border of Nevada and Oregon. Experts believe this unassuming area contains enough lithium to significantly impact the global battery supply for many decades. A recent study proposes that the McDermitt caldera on the Nevada-Oregon border contains approximately 20 to 40 million metric tons of lithium. Using the figure of 37,000 dollars per ton as the United States’ average contract price for lithium carbonate, the estimated $1.5 trillion valuation of the McDermitt caldera deposit is based on the highest range of its estimated tonnage.
Supervolcano Full of Lithium: U.S. Hosts World’s Largest Deposit
The deposit is situated within a caldera, which is defined as a massive volcanic crater created when the underlying magma chamber caves in. The specific basin containing the lithium stretches approximately 28 miles from north to south and 22 miles from east to west across the Nevada-Oregon border.
The research and development work on this massive lithium deposit was directed by Thomas R. Benson, PhD, who was leading the efforts for Lithium Americas Corporation (LAC). Dr. Benson’s studies primarily investigate the processes by which lithium-rich minerals develop in areas characterized by volcanic activity.
The eruption produced extensive layers of hot ash that subsequently solidified into a dense, hard volcanic rock covering the floor of the caldera.
16 Million Years Ago, A Major Volcanic Eruption Occurred!
Approximately 16 million years ago, a massive volcanic eruption occurred, and the eruption resulted in thick layers of hot ash being deposited, which eventually cooled and hardened into durable volcanic rock that blanketed the caldera floor.
These collected materials eventually hardened into lacustrine claystones (rock formed in a lake environment) that currently hold the bulk of the lithium-rich clay deposit. Long after the primary eruption, the magma deep beneath the basin kept generating hydrothermal fluids—which are hot, underground water currents rich in dissolved minerals.
These hot fluids dissolved and removed (leached) lithium and various other elements from the volcanic glass, transporting them upward into the saturated lake sediments.
Due to this chemical process, the mud at the bottom of the lake initially converted into smectite, a type of magnesium-rich clay capable of absorbing lithium into its structure. Subsequently, even hotter fluids chemically transformed portions of the smectite clay into a different mineral known as illite, which has the ability to retain a significantly greater amount of lithium.
A 100- Foot- Thick Layer In The Most Concentrated Lithium Area At Thacker Pass!
Within the most concentrated lithium area at Thacker Pass, the highly lithium-retaining clay known as illite (a potassium-rich type) creates a layer approximately 100 feet deep. Analyses indicate that this particular clay contains a lithium concentration of approximately 1.3 to 2.4 percent by weight, which is nearly twice the amount usually found in typical claystone deposits.
A recent report highlighted that the high-concentration illite layer is located near the ground surface, a factor that makes extraction using large-scale open-pit mining methods feasible.
Investigators, according to geologist Thomas R. Benson of Lithium Americas Corporation, have documented lithium concentrations in the deposit that reach approximately 1 percent by weight.
