- The Nevada-Oregon caldera hosts lithium clay estimated at 20-40 million tons
- The discovery of lithium could reach 1.5 trillion dollars at current market prices
- Four-layer sediment and hydrothermal activity enriched clay with lithium elements
A research team has identified a large concentration of lithium-rich clay in the McDermitt Caldera, a collapsed supervolcano along the Nevada-Oregon border.
Current assessments suggest that the region may hold between 20 – 40 million tons of lithium-bearing material.
If commercial activity confirms these estimates, the value could reach around $1.5 trillion at current market prices.
Lithium – an important raw material for industries
The expected scale would make this one of the largest documented lithium deposits and, if commercial extraction proves viable, could provide battery production for many years.
The material will serve sectors that rely on large-scale storage, including electric vehicles and consumer electronics.
It will also support computing systems used across industry, from workstations to smaller devices such as mini PCs.
Geological analysis indicates that the caldera was formed about 16 million years ago after a major eruption caused the underlying magma chamber to collapse.
Thick layers of ash cooled across the basin, and a long-lasting lake deposited additional sediments over longer periods.
Hydrothermal activity continued as mineral-rich water moved up into the soft mud layers, enriching them with lithium and other elements.
This process created clay bands with unusually high concentrations of lithium, some of which are close enough to the surface to allow open pit mining.
The United States has relied heavily on the Silver Peak mine in Nevada since the 1960s for domestic lithium supply.
Although discoveries like the southern Arkansas deposit surfaced last year, Silver Peak remains relevant.
The global outlook for lithium demand remains steep, with some analysts predicting an eightfold increase in required production by 2040.
A site of this scale could reduce long-term dependence on a single mine and shift supply dynamics.
It will also help ease price volatility, which has risen by over 1,500% in recent years and strained industries that depend on steady supplies of lithium and rare earth elements.
These materials are controlled in many nations, with China providing rare earth development aid to Malaysia after restricting access to US entities.
As battery research expands beyond lithium-based chemistries, such major discoveries become uncertain.
Sodium-ion cells are often mentioned as possible alternatives to lithium, but current versions fall short in energy density and durability.
Because of this gap, lithium remains the dominant option for now. However, it remains to be seen whether long-term demand will maintain its current trajectory.
Via Tom’s hardware
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