- The Nevada-Oregon caldera houses lithium clay estimated between 20 and 40 million tons
- Lithium discovery could reach $1.5 trillion at current market prices
- Quadruple-layer sediment and hydrothermal activity enriched clay with lithium elements
A research team has identified a large concentration of lithium-rich clay within the McDermitt Caldera, a collapsed supervolcano along the Nevada-Oregon border.
Current assessments suggest the region could host between 20 and 40 million metric tons of lithium-bearing material.
If commercial activity confirms these estimates, the value could reach approximately $1.5 trillion at current market prices.
Lithium: an important raw material for industries
The projected scale would make this one of the largest documented lithium deposits and, if commercial extraction proves viable, could supply battery production for many years.
The material would serve sectors that rely on large-scale storage, including electric vehicles and consumer electronics.
It would also support computer systems used throughout the industry, from workstations to smaller units such as mini PCs.
Geological analysis indicates that the caldera formed about 16 million years ago after a large eruption caused the underlying magma chamber to collapse.
Thick layers of ash cooled across the basin and a long-lived lake deposited more sediment over long periods.
Hydrothermal activity continued as mineral-laden water rose into the soft mud layers, enriching them with lithium and other elements.
This process created bands of clay 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 supplies.
Although discoveries like the southern Arkansas deposit emerged last year, Silver Peak remains relevant.
The outlook for global lithium demand remains elevated, with some analysts projecting that required production will increase eight-fold by 2040.
A site of this scale could reduce long-standing reliance on a single mine and change supply dynamics.
It will also help ease price swings, which have risen more than 1,500% in recent years and have hit industries that rely on steady supplies of lithium and rare earth elements.
These materials are controlled in many nations, and China provides rare earth development assistance to Malaysia after restricting access to US entities.
As battery research expands beyond lithium-based chemistry, these important discoveries become uncertain.
Sodium ion cells are frequently cited as potential alternatives to lithium, but current versions lag behind in energy density and durability.
Due to this gap, lithium remains the dominant option for now. However, it is unknown whether long-term demand will maintain its current trajectory.
Through Tom Hardware
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