Potentially world’s largest known lithium deposit discovered in the US

A new study published on August 30, suggests that the world's largest lithium reserve could be located in the McDermitt caldera, inside an extinct volcano, between Nevada and Oregon in the US.

Lithium is a material used in lithium-ion batteries, which are the most used for a range of applications from mobile phones to electric vehicles.

Furthermore, it is believed that the site contains a lithium deposit of about 20 to 40 million metric tons, with the maximum calculated tonnage reaching up to 120 million metric tons.

To put these numbers into perspective, it is believed that annual global demand for lithium will reach 1 million metric tons by 2040, which is about eight times the current value, and the newly discovered deposit will be enough to meet demand for decades.

As for the site itself, it is keyhole-shaped with dimensions of 30 kilometers by 40 kilometers, while deposition is believed to have taken place through magma some 16 million years ago.

It is worth noting that the currently known largest lithium deposit is located in Bolivia and has a capacity of roughly 10.2 million tons.

Mining is expected to start as early as 2026, while the newly discovered deposit’s worth is estimated at about $1.5 trillion.

However, as Elon Musk explains, the discovery will only be economically significant if the deposit can be refined efficiently, while he characteristically stated on X that “Lithium ore is quite common throughout the world. The limiting factor is lithium refining”.