Ancient Supervolcano in US May Hide Largest Lithium Deposit Ever Found

[Liberals cause global warming]

An ancient supervolcano in the United States may be hiding the largest
deposit of lithium found anywhere in the world.

A new study hypothesizes that the McDermitt Caldera, which sits on the
border between Nevada and Oregon, contains more than double the
concentration of lithium seen in any other bed of clay globally, around 20
to 40 million metric tons in total.

It's worth noting that the study was funded by a mining company, and
current plans to mine the soft, silvery metal are steeped in controversy.

Many scientists, environmentalists, ranchers, and First Nations people are
concerned by the US government's recent decision to approve the Thacker
Pass Lithium mine in the McDermitt Caldera, which sits on land that is
sacred to several Indigenous tribes and contains precious wildlife
habitats.

Today, lithium is like liquid gold for car manufacturers. It's used to
build the batteries in electric vehicles, and to meet rapidly rising
demand, an estimated million metric tons of it will be needed by 2040.

Transitioning away from fossil fuels is of the utmost necessity, but this
particular climate solution is hardly perfect.

In fact, the global rush to unearth more lithium could have some serious
adverse impacts on nature and people. Lithium operations can destroy
ecosystems, deplete groundwater, and produce masses of waste. During
battery manufacturing, fossil fuels are also burned.

At the moment, the US is largely reliant on China for its lithium, so
there's been a recent push to mine more on federal lands. If all goes
ahead, the Thacker Pass Lithium mine will be the second large-scale mine
of its kind in the nation.

The project is owned by Lithium Nevada, LLC, a subsidiary of Lithium
Americas Corporation (LAC), which funded the recent research.

According to the company's latest review, the caldera's southernmost rim,
including Thacker Pass, contains the highest concentrations of lithium in
the region.

When the ancient supervolcano erupted around 16 million years ago, hot
liquid magma gushed through the ground's cracks and fissures and enriched
the clay soil with lithium, according to experts from Lithium Nevada, the
University of Oregon, and the New Zealand research institute GNS Science.

Most of the caldera's clay is called magnesium smectite, which is a known
source of lithium elsewhere in the world.

But towards the southernmost rim of the caldera, researchers have found an
unusual type of clay, called illite, that is especially concentrated with
lithium.

This mining hotspot, the team argues, is likely the result of another
resurgence of magma after the caldera's ancient lake had dried out.

The chemical reaction that ensued from this event would have replaced
lithium-smectite in lake sediment with an even richer lithium-illite
claybed – but only near Thacker Pass, not throughout the caldera.

"If you believe their back-of-the-envelope estimation, this is a very,
very significant deposit of lithium,' Anouk Borst, a geologist who was not
involved in the study, told Chemistry World.

"It could change the dynamics of lithium globally, in terms of price,
security of supply, and geopolitics."

But it also comes at a significant cost.

Ranchers are concerned that the lithium project will cause groundwater
levels to drop to precipitous levels, and an environmental review by the
US Interior Department highlighted possible dangers to native pronghorn
antelope, sage grouse, and golden eagles, which are particularly sacred
birds to local First Nations people.

Thacker Pass, also known as Peehee Mu'huh, is the traditional homeland of
several Indigenous nations, who hunt deer here, tend to native cherry
orchards, and forage for traditional medicines.

It is also the place of a bloody massacre, in which American soldiers
killed 31 members of the Paiute tribe in 1865. The many caves in Thacker
Pass are said to have saved the Fort McDermitt tribe from being rounded up
by soldiers and sent to faraway reservations over a century ago.

Building a mine on these lands, some tribal members say, is equivalent to
desecrating Pearl Harbor or Arlington National Cemetery.

"We understand that all of us must be committed to fighting climate
change," wrote the People of Red Mountain in a Statement of Opposition to
the mine in 2021.

"Fighting climate change, however, cannot be used as yet another excuse to
destroy native land. We cannot protect the environment by destroying it."

The study was published in Science Advances.

https://www.sciencealert.com/ancient-supervolcano-in-us-may-hide-largest-
lithium-deposit-ever-found