$1.5 Trillion In White Gold Found In Ancient Volcano On Nevada

NEVADA – 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.

Supervolcano full of lithium

The deposit sits inside a caldera, a large volcanic crater formed when a magma chamber collapses. This particular basin spans roughly 28 miles north to south and 22 miles east to west along the Nevada Oregon line.