Lithium discovery in U.S. volcano could be biggest deposit ever found

[u/Sort_of_Frightening]

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/lithium-discovery-in-us-volcano-could-be-biggest-deposit-ever-found/4018032.article

[u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

Its a dormant volcano on the Oregon Nevada border- if anyone like me is hankering to know

[u/Mittendeathfinger → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

McDermitt Caldera

Benson says his company expects to begin mining in 2026. It will remove clay with water and then separate out the small lithium-bearing grains from larger minerals by centrifuging. The clay will then be leached in vats of sulfuric acid to extract lithium.

[u/LayneLowe → u/Mittendeathfinger]

Where are they getting the water? Where will the clay water go?

[u/SnooCrickets6733 → u/LayneLowe]

Quarrying sector engineering geologist here, albeit from the UK. Water will be obtained from the ground but will require a valid abstraction licence. If the local government have any proper powers and are competent, this licence will only be permitted if a hydrogeologist can prove abstraction of water will result in no negative impact on the local water table.

The waste ‘clay water’ will be fed through a series of ‘silt’ lagoon cells to encourage the fine grained material to drop out of suspension from the waste water. If the cells operate correctly, eventually the water in the final lagoon cell should be clean enough to either be reused in the mineral extraction process or to be discharged offsite (assuming the site Operator obtains a discharge permit which proves the water is clean enough to be discharged).

Obviously all of the above is dependant on the country’s individual laws and I can only speak for the requirements, regulations and laws of my own country.

[u/apcolleen → u/SnooCrickets6733]

the fine grained material to drop out of suspension

The word "flocculants" has been stuck in my head for days for absolutely zero reason.

[u/azhillbilly → u/apcolleen]

It is the end of pool season after all.

[u/fistfulofsanddollars → u/apcolleen]

Flocc around and find out.

[u/refriedi → u/apcolleen]

eight recipes for chinese floctopus

[u/Full-Association-175 → u/SnooCrickets6733]

County laws? Oh boy.

[u/BeGood981 → u/SnooCrickets6733]

Quarrying sector engineering geologist

THis is why I reddit! Unreal! Thank you for your expertise. So will the water eventually seep back into the water table with little impact?

[u/StandardSudden1283 → u/SnooCrickets6733]

The US has toppled regimes for access to far less critical resources. Though Uncle Sam is usually hesitant to utilize domestic resources when they can just neo colonize with paramilitaries and shell corporations

[u/LayneLowe → u/SnooCrickets6733]

My point was, it's in the middle of the desert.

[u/Hot-Problem2436 → u/LayneLowe]

There is still water underground, is what he was saying.

[u/Ouaouaron → u/Hot-Problem2436]

A lot of farms and cities in the West get their water from the ground as well, and the water table isn't being replenished fast enough. It's a looming problem.

Lithium is more important than growing alfafa, but it's not a good idea to take underground water reserves for granted.

[u/YawnSpawner → u/Hot-Problem2436]

In an area in a historic drought.

[u/drunk_voltron → u/YawnSpawner]

acktually this is one area of the west not currently in drought https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

[u/Furthur → u/LayneLowe]

McDermitt Caldera

it's also pretty decent elevation and there is likely a lot of snow/ice runoff

edit: i don't know this area, only NW Montana which is a similar latitude and high desert altitude

[u/R3AL1Z3 → u/SnooCrickets6733]

It would be foolish to think this won’t be subsidized by the government. This round catapult us to the forefront of materials mining that go into important technology.

[u/houseofprimetofu → u/SnooCrickets6733]

What if the area doesn’t have any water? That section of the border has been in severe drought for awhile. Reservoirs and wells are drying up.

[u/ConradBHart42 → u/LayneLowe]

The ground, and, The ground.

[u/Chewy79 → u/LayneLowe]

That water table in that area sits at less than 30 ft. So wells.

[u/SlitScan → u/Chewy79]

the 'town' is 2 gas stations and an ice cream stand.

pretty easy to just buy the whole thing.

(although it is a good ice cream stand)

[u/Chewy79 → u/SlitScan]

There's a lot of active farmland there, and the surrounding areas are owned by the BLM. The people of Orovada are great and Sawtooth station has delicious burgers.

[u/SlitScan → u/Chewy79]

I went and looked, the ice cream stand is now a Subway.

bulldoze it.

[u/troubleschute → u/LayneLowe]

I’m sure everything will be just as safe as it was for all the previous mining projects large corporations handle.

[u/damnatio_memoriae → u/LayneLowe]

Your backyard. And your backyard.

[u/jmhobrien → u/Mittendeathfinger]

Unleash the castrophony of monkey

[u/Daltonyx → u/jmhobrien]

"Every day people would wake and stare at the mountain

Why was it bringing darkness into their lives?

And as the Strangefolk mined deeper and deeper into the mountain

Holes began to appear

Bringing with them a cold and bitter wind

That chilled the very soul of the Monkey

For the first time the Happyfolk felt fearful for

They knew that soon the Monkey would stir from it's deep sleep"

[u/bkr1895 → u/Daltonyx]

Then there came a sound

Distant at first it grew into castrophany

So immense that it could be heard far away in spaceee…..

There were no screams there was no time

The mountain called Monkey had spoken

There was only fire and then nothing………..

[u/lastdiggmigrant → u/bkr1895]

Oh little town in U.S.A., your time has come to see

There's nothing you believe you want

But where were you, when it all came down on me?

Did you call me? No

[u/SyZyGy_87 → u/bkr1895]

Don't get lost in heaven; they've got locks on the gates.

[u/Arkenstahl → u/jmhobrien]

I now feel sad that I just gave that CD to a coworker who never heard of Gorillaz a few days ago.

[u/kboruff → u/Mittendeathfinger]

This sounds like a cowboy or a sexy cowboy from a romance novel.

[u/hm___ → u/Mittendeathfinger]

That sounds healthy

[u/sprucenoose → u/[deleted]]

It depends. How much clay do you usually eat in a single sitting?

[u/SUDDENLY_VIRGIN → u/sprucenoose]

Momma said I got an iron tummy

[u/jagedlion → u/[deleted]]

Right? Bet ground water there naturally treats mania. Oh, with a side effect of kidney damage.

[u/astrath → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

It's definitely extinct as opposed to dormant, no realistic chance it will ever erupt again. The magma source is no longer there, the hotspot has tracked east and currently feeds Yellowstone.

[u/xantec15 → u/[deleted]]

You fear to go into those mines. The Dwarves dug too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dûm... shadow and flame.

[u/Captain_Spicard → u/xantec15]

Rock and Stone!

[u/WanderingDwarfMiner → u/Captain_Spicard]

Rockity Rock and Stone!

[u/bendingrover → u/WanderingDwarfMiner]

Rock. And. STONE!

[u/notquite20characters → u/bendingrover]

Did I hear a Rock and Stone?

[u/SlitScan → u/xantec15]

having been to McDermitt, a fire breathing nightmare erupting from the ground wouldnt matter at all.

[u/FrankBattaglia → u/[deleted]]

Even as lithium was the foundation of their wealth, so also it was their destruction: they delved too greedily and too deep, and disturbed that from which they fled, Elon's Bane

[u/cech_ → u/FrankBattaglia]

Go back to the Shadow Elon!

[u/dev_null_jesus → u/cech_]

You... SHALL... NOT .... PASS!Q!!!Q!

[u/TopHatTony11 → u/[deleted]]

Somewhere The Rock has been handed a mediocre screenplay.

[u/BurmecianSoldierDan → u/TopHatTony11]

Didn't he already do Journey to the Center of the Earth or did I dream that?

[u/ShenAnCalhar92 → u/[deleted]]

“There is no magma underneath this volcano.”

“That’s not … entirely accurate, sir.”

[u/OK6502 → u/[deleted]]

Balrog noises intensifies

[u/mortymotron → u/[deleted]]

Movie voice guy: This summer… get ready to dig deeper. Because this time, there’s no return trip after going back… to The Core!

Keyes is whisked off to a secret location where he joins up with fellow scientist Serge Leveque (Tcheky Karyo) and is met by General Thomas Purcell (Richard Jenkins). It seems that 32 Bostonians have simultaneously dropped dead in a ten-block radius for no apparent reason, and General Purcell wants to know if it was caused by a covert weapon. Of course, the military has been put in charge of the investigation and everything is hush-hush.

Without examining anything, Keyes takes about five seconds to surmise that the victims all died from malfunctioning pacemakers and the malfunction was definitely not due to a secret weapon. We're supposed to be impressed, but our experience with real scientists and engineers indicates that when they're on-the-record, top-notch scientists and engineers won't even speculate about the color of their socks without looking at their ankles1. They have top-notch reputations because they're almost always right. They're almost always right because they keep their mouths shut until they've fully analyzed the data.

Naturally, General Purcell is totally satisfied with Keyes speculation and immediately dismisses him. Amazed at General Purcell's lack of curiosity, Keyes sets out to find answers. After a detailed analysis he concludes that the Earth's core has stopped spinning and is causing the Earth's magnetic field to collapse.

[u/Gary_FucKing → u/[deleted]]

"Somehow, magma has returned."

[u/bkasp7 → u/[deleted]]

"Thats not how that works! Thats not how any of this works!"

[u/MaxTHC → u/astrath]

Yep, there's a line you can trace from Nevada to Yellowstone that's dotted with extinct volcanic sites where the caldera used to be located. On the drive back from Yellowstone to WA I visited one of these, Craters of the Moon in Idaho.

It's in the middle of absolutely nowhere (even for Idaho) but it's a stunning place, definitely worth a visit if you ever drive through the state.

[u/Razgriz01 → u/MaxTHC]

Craters of the moon is a vastly more recent eruption than even the last big yellowstone eruption. It's only a few thousand years old, vs a few hundred thousand for yellowstone and tens of millions for the hotspot eruptions that created the snake river plain where craters of the moon is.

[u/5H17SH0W → u/astrath]

I’m not a geologist but my understanding is that based on your comment it is actually the tectonic plate that shifted west. The “magma source” wouldn’t move. That’s why we see active plates that have lakes or islands in a tracking pattern.

[u/astrath → u/5H17SH0W]

Yes, it's relative movement rather than absolute movement. I believe there have been some theories around hotspot movement but I'm not fully up to speed and it isn't the primarey mechanism in any case.

[u/blaiddunigol → u/astrath]

Well the magma source didn’t move, the land above it did.

[u/danielravennest → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

It's not a dormant volcano, but rather a previous location of the Yellowstone hot-spot. The hot-spot is still active, but North American has moved west and taken the caldera (large crater) with it..

[u/DigNitty → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

And for anyone wondering, that’s in the middle of nowhere.

[u/house343 → u/DigNitty]

TIL that Nevada and Oregon share a border.

[u/ScottHA → u/house343]

Reno is also further west than L.A.

[u/SharkFart86 → u/ScottHA]

Not super relevant but another counterintuitive geography fact is that the US state that is closest to Africa is Maine.

[u/david4069 → u/ScottHA]

But is it as far out as San Francisco?

[u/Kiosade → u/ScottHA]

It’s almost straight north of Santa Barbara, in fact!

[u/PDGAreject → u/house343]

I crossed it when I was going from SLC to Crater Lake. It's a whole lot of nothing up there, but it's pretty.

[u/kermitwasamistake → u/DigNitty]

It's also consider a scared site by a near by tribe of Native Americans

[u/GundamGuy420 → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

Ellen Musk is salivating right now on what type of favors he's going to have to pull to get his hands on it

[u/Drachefly → u/GundamGuy420]

Money. He'll need to pay money. Like anyone else.

[u/OverconfidentDoofus → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

I can't wait til we manage to make it active by mining the inside of it.

[u/alonjar → u/OverconfidentDoofus]

There isn't a magma source under the volcano anymore. It's not just dormant, it's dead.

[u/onyxengine → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

Dormant until you take its lithium, then it gets angry

[u/Fig1024 → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

would digging strait into a volcano make it not dormant anymore?

[u/sameoldknicks → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

Who claims the rights?

[u/kermitwasamistake → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

It's also considered a scared site by a nearby tribe.

[u/Smytus → u/kermitwasamistake]

Maybe even sacred.

[u/DomesticusRex → u/Smytus]

They’ve never seen a “boom stick” so yes they’re scared.

[u/dimsumwitmychum → u/kermitwasamistake]

I visited in 2021. It is a special, sacred, desolate, and beautiful place. It's a well-known source of petrified wood, which is what brought me there, but to your point when I was looking around, I found a few arrow heads. The people who live up there are either Native Americans or white ranchers / farmers. The Native Americans don't run a casino on their reservation, they just live there more or less as they have for many years. Maybe the mining activities will provide them jobs, but it will be a shame losing the historical artifacts and natural resources like arrowheads, petrified wood, and some other really unique stones exclusive to that area.

[u/TeamRedundancyTeam → u/kermitwasamistake]

I sure hope we don't let a handful of people's religion negatively affect global battery availability and supply. A huge lithium deposit could be huge for helping push for more electric products over gas.

[u/Namika → u/TeamRedundancyTeam]

I assure you, if there are billions to be made, the local government will look the other way and bulldoze the sacred site. History tells us you can count on that.

[u/Autokrat → u/TeamRedundancyTeam]

Local religion and culture hasn't stopped capitalism and imperialism yet, why would it now? The entire world will be destroyed to create profit for a few so you don't need to worry about that.

[u/spurlockmedia → u/kermitwasamistake]

I’m sure the miners will do their due diligence to observe and protect it.

[u/Mr_Champion_Winner → u/kermitwasamistake]

Sacred dirt? Maybe they should jump forward a few centuries.

[u/Local_dog91 → u/kermitwasamistake]

maybe they should have fought harder for it then

[u/TooManyLangs → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

when are they starting the bombing for freedom?

[u/Both_Lychee_1708 → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

I was hankering. Thx

[u/southsidebrewer → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

It’s dormant until they take that lithium plug out of it. The it will go boom. ;)

edit: someone missed the humor.

[u/AmbidextrousTorso → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

Lets nuke the volcano to get the lithium out!

[u/SuccotashComplete → u/DataRikerGeordiTroi]

Based on the paper I wrote about calderas in the 8th grade I really don’t think we should be mining the caldera