A report in Science Advances on August 30, 2023 stopped us in our tracks, although we have to thank Informed Comment for alerting us. Scientists investigating the McDermitt Caldera on the Nevada-Oregon border, suspect this feature contains a huge lithium resource. And moreover, the Thacker Pass lithium mining deposit is in illite claystone, from which it can be extracted relatively easily.
How Extensive is the Thacker Pass Lithium Deposit?
Intensive exploration of the region began in 2007, and culminated when the Bureau of Land Management approved the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine in 2021. However, several local indigenous tribes regard the area as sacred, and a dispute is ongoing. Informed Comment expects mining will begin in 2026 on program.
Global lithium resources amount to 88 million tons, of which only about a quarter lends itself to mining. Researchers Benson, Coble, and Dilles publishing in Science Advances estimated the extent of the Thacker Pass resource. They believe it may contain as much as 20 to 40 million tons of accessible lithium.
Dynamic Between Material Mining and Nature
We need to break away from burning coal, fossil gas, and petroleum, if we are to prevent further global warming. Lithium-ion batteries are currently in the forefront of this endeavor, although scientists are working on more environmentally-friendly alternatives.
The McDermitt Caldera adjoining Thacker Pass in the Yellowstone Hotspot, formed when a lava dome collapsed some 16 million years ago. Many rare, precious materials formed out of the immense thermal activity, including mercury, uranium, cesium, antimony, and lithium.
Thacker Pass witnessed a tragedy on September 12, 1865, when U.S. Cavalry forces were pursuing members of the Pauite Tribe. Some 31 indigenous men, women, and children died there. This incident gives rise to powerful memories surfacing again.
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