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.
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?
This gives me an idea.
There’s I think at least two dollops about guys who did this.
Wasn’t that the basic plot of a Gilligan’s Island episode (except with oil)?
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?
There was one where Mr. Howell gives Gilligan some land, then they hear on the radio there is oil there, Howell takes it back, only to find out it was just a buried tanker. Hilarity ensues. That is all I remember. I don’t think I have watched any episodes in about… um, so many years.
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.
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.
You forgot the step after the government seizing the land… They sell it for pennies to a mega corporation.
This is exactly what somebody would say before they anger a volcano god and get Pompei’d