Well -- It Will Be A Decade Or More Before The Ore Body Comes Online, But It Will Shift The Balance -- In Raw Materials, For EVs...

This is a significant development, and could markedly-reduce Elon Musk's throttle-hold -- on the world's supplies of a key component in electric vehicle battery assemblies. Lithium is at present mostly sourced from Bolivia, Chile and to a lesser degree. . . China.

If US companies develop the ore body, one would assume the spot price of Lithium will decline, and Mr. Musk will have overpaid for his futures contracts. We shall see. As I say, that's about a decade off, in any event. For now, it is good news to have more of the precious stuff needed for batteries (used in laptops and phones too, but these applications are dwarfed by the requirement of the grayish metal, for any automotive- or marine- battery's cranking power). Here's a bit -- from Chemistry World:

. . .Some unusual conditions created what could be a uniquely rich volcanic deposit. The crater – the McDermitt caldera – formed 16.4 million years ago when around 1000km3 of magma exploded outwards. The caldera was filled with erupted products of an alkaline magma rich in sodium and potassium, as well as lithium, chlorine and boron. This quickly cooled to form a finely crystalline glassy volcanic rock, ignimbrite, which weathered to produce lithium-rich particles. . . .

A lake subsequently formed in the crater, persisting for hundreds of thousands of years, with weathered volcanic and surrounding materials forming a clay-rich sediment at its bottom. The new analysis suggested that, after the lake had emptied, another bout of volcanism exposed the sediments to a hot, alkaline brine, rich in lithium and potassium.

An estimated 20 to 40 million tonnes of lithium metal lie within a volcanic crater formed around 16 million years ago. This is notably larger than the lithium deposits found beneath a Bolivian salt flat, previously considered the largest deposit in the world.

‘If you believe their back-of-the-envelope estimation, this is a very, very significant deposit of lithium,’ says Anouk Borst, a geologist at KU Leuven University and the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. ‘It could change the dynamics of lithium globally, in terms of price, security of supply and geopolitics.’

New in situ analysis reveals that an unusual claystone, composed of the mineral illite, contains 1.3% to 2.4% of lithium in the volcanic crater. This is almost double the lithium present in the main lithium-bearing clay mineral, magnesium smectite, which is more common than illite. . . .

Now you know. And onward, on a gray, rain-drizzled evening. . . but grinning, in spite of myself. Onward.

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