Lithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ever found

[Still Waters]

A world-beating deposit of lithium along the Nevada–Oregon border could meet surging demand for this metal, according to a new analysis.

An estimated 20 to 40 million tonnes of lithium metal lie within a volcanic crater formed around 16 million years ago. This is notably larger than the lithium deposits found beneath a Bolivian salt flat, previously considered the largest deposit in the world.

‘If you believe their back-of-the-envelope estimation, this is a very, very significant deposit of lithium,’ says Anouk Borst, a geologist at KU Leuven University and the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. ‘It could change the dynamics of lithium globally, in terms of price, security of supply and geopolitics.’

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/lithium-discovery-in-us-volcano-could-be-biggest-deposit-ever-found/4018032.article

[Doc Socks Junior]

Interesting paper.

Long Valley Caldera also hosted a lake system for several hundred thousand years coincident with resurgent dome activity of the early rhyolites. They're currently pulling geothermal power out of there. Could be an analogue system....

Probably worth checking what Li enrichment looks like in the 700 m of lake sediments there.

[Freez1]

Extinct? Not for long after this

[Doc Socks Junior]

11 hours ago, Freez1 said:

Extinct? Not for long after this

Don't worry, it's been a while. A little lithium mining ain't gonna wake the puppy up.

[NCC1701]

"Could be"

[Myles]

Biden will give the rights to China.

[Doc Socks Junior]

56 minutes ago, Myles said:

Biden will give the rights to China.

I believe the rights are currently held by Lithium Americas. 

Edited September 14 by Doc Socks Junior