If you have a phone or a laptop, you have already encountered lithium, even if you never think about it. It helps rechargeable batteries store energy for everything from earbuds to electric cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A study of an ancient volcanic crater on the Nevada-Oregon border suggests a huge amount of lithium<\/a> may be locked in clay under the surface. The researchers argue that hot, mineral-rich water moved through the ground and concentrated the lithium to unusually high levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The place is the McDermitt caldera<\/a>, a giant bowl left behind after a massive eruption about 16 million years ago. It stretches roughly 28 miles north to south and about 22 miles east to west along the Nevada-Oregon line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A caldera forms when the ground collapses after an eruption empties a magma chamber, which is essentially a vast underground reservoir of molten rock. This is ancient volcanic history, not a volcano that is about to wake up and surprise anybody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The study, led by geologist Thomas R. Benson<\/a> and coauthors, focused on Thacker Pass on the south side of the caldera. It appeared in Science Advances<\/em> on August 30, 2023. In lab work, the team reported clay-rich rocks containing up to 1% lithium by weight, more than double what many other known lithium clays hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They also looked closely at a specific clay mineral called illite. Tests on the illite itself showed about 1.3% to 2.4% lithium by weight, meaning the right kind of clay can carry a lot of lithium in a small amount of rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because these lithium-rich layers may extend across much of the caldera, the researchers estimate McDermitt could contain about 20 to 40 million metric tons of lithium, which could make it the largest deposit identified so far. For perspective, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS<\/a>) estimates the world used about 220,000 tons of lithium in all of 2024, so even the low end of that range is enormous, if mining can actually reach it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to note the study\u2019s funding source. A Nevada Current<\/em> report noted Lithium Americas<\/em> funded the study, and one of the authors works for the company and holds stock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, this is not a brand-new idea that came out of nowhere. The USGS reported unusually high lithium in McDermitt\u2019s lake sediments back in 1978, and a 2020 paper in the journal Minerals<\/a> called the area \u201cpossibly the world\u2019s largest\u201d lithium clay resource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the big eruption, the caldera filled with thick ash and broken volcanic<\/a> glass. A long-lasting lake then formed in the crater. Mud and ash settled on the lake bottom and turned into clay-rich layers over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later, hot fluids kept moving through the rocks underground. The study says those fluids helped change a softer clay called smectite into illite, and that change helped the clay grab and hold more lithium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most lithium today comes from salty brines or from hard-rock mining. The study points out that volcanic lake-bed clay deposits like McDermitt can be broad and fairly shallow, which can mean less waste rock to move for each ton of ore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But clay makes you work for it. Plans for Thacker Pass<\/a> describe crushing the ore and using a chemical leaching step to pull lithium out of the clay, using chemicals like sulfuric acid, then turning it into lithium carbonate for batteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some recent coverage slapped a price tag of about $1.5 trillion on this deposit by multiplying the high-end estimate by a past contract price for lithium carbonate. While eye-catching, this figure is highly speculative and should not be mistaken for guaranteed value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prices move fast. The USGS<\/a> reported the average U.S. contract price for battery-grade lithium carbonate fell to about $14,000 per metric ton in 2024, after much higher prices in 2022 and 2023, so any \u201cvalue\u201d math can swing wildly from one year to the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This part of the high desert is home to wildlife, ranching, and deep tribal history. A 2025 Human Rights Watch report<\/a> states that the Thacker Pass project sits on ancestral lands and raises serious concerns about how agencies handled consultation and other rights issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Water is a flashpoint, too. On June 26, 2025, Nevada regulators<\/a> ordered the mining company to stop pumping from a contested well tied to a dispute with a rancher, and a watchdog group described the rush around lithium as \u201csloppy permitting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For geologists, McDermitt is a lesson in how nature hides valuable stuff in plain sight. The study ties the lithium story to a mix of lake sediments, long-lasting heat, and pathways for hot fluids to move through cracks in the rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That model gives explorers a checklist for other basins that might hold similar clay deposits. The foundational study was published in Science Advances<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you have a phone or a laptop, you have already encountered lithium, even if you never think about it. … <\/p>\nWhere this lithium crater sits, and why it matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What the study found in the clay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Read More: A YouTuber lowers a camera 200 meters below the surface and films a creature that experts are unable to identify<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
The eye-popping estimate: 20 to 40 million metric tons<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How a supervolcano helped make lithium-rich clay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Read More: “It’s bending space-time like a black hole” \u2014 NASA spots enigmatic question mark in a distant galaxy<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Why this deposit could be easier to dig, but harder to process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The $1.5 trillion headline, and what it really depends on<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Big promise, big questions for the people and land nearby<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Read More: They were searching for Shackleton’s ship\u2026 and found a gigantic \u201cghost town\u201d of fish hidden under the ice<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
What scientists will look for next<\/h2>\n\n\n\n