A volcanic crater found on the border between Nevada and Oregon could contain up to 40 million tons of lithium.

Buried beneath an ancient volcanic crater on the Nevada Oregon border sits an enormous deposit of lithium rich clay. Scientists now think this quiet landscape may hold enough lithium to influence the global battery market for decades.

A new study argues that McDermitt caldera may host about 20 to 40 million metric tons of lithium, likely the largest deposit yet identified.

Using the recent United States’ average contract price for lithium carbonate, about 37,000 dollars per ton, that estimate comes out to be nearly $1.5 trillion.

  • Gary Ghost@lemmy.world
    7·
    11 hours ago

    Apparently the lithium is very shallow and so I hope this means that we wouldn’t cause an active super volcano. They are worried about changes to the landscape but what about pollution? I guess that depends on where they process the lithium. Also why would anyone think they have claim to the deposit when the government wants it?

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
      3·
      5 hours ago

      This gives me an idea.

      • Buy a ton of lithium
      • Buy a plot of land with no good use
      • Bury a ton of lithium in spots that look like they would be good sample sites
      • Wait 5-10 years for nature to erase any previous digging activities
      • Find some company to survey the land and then sell the land to someone for a ton of profit
        • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
          1·
          3 hours ago

          Is it? I haven’t watched all of the Gilligan’s island episodes, I don’t think I have seen more than a couple.

          Which episode was it?

    • ameancow@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 hours ago

      so I hope this means that we wouldn’t cause an active super volcano.

      There is almost nothing we could do short of apocalyptic nuclear demolition charges in very strategic places that could possibly trigger a supervolcano, and even then I doubt we could do more than create some kind of vent that would reduce the chances of a supervolcano.

      The article is really poorly written and has nothing to do with any volcanoes, at least not current ones. Saying it’s in an ancient caldera is like saying something was “found in rock that was once beneath the mantle” or some such sloppy, forced sensationalism.

      Also why would anyone think they have claim to the deposit when the government wants it?

      They want to get bought out by someone else. Government buys land from citizens all the time when they want something bad enough. It’s a bit of a gamble though because the government is far more likely to find a “loophole” which lets them take what they want without spending a dime than if you are just starting a tech company and hoping Google or OpenAI will buy you out. But they might be hoping to play the lithium market in some way.