Last week, the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron project in Nevada became the first lithium mine to receive the green light from the Biden administration. Actions of the project owner, Ioneer Ltd (NASDAQ:IONR), rose more than 20% after the announcement, with the company saying that received final federal approval for the US Bureau of Land Management project as part of the Biden administration’s attempt to boost domestic production of minerals considered critical for electric vehicle batteries.

According to Australia-based Ioneer, Rhyolite Ridge will annually supply enough lithium for more than 370,000 US-made electric vehicles. Earlier this year, Ioneer received a conditional commitment from the US Department of Energy for up to $700 million.

“The Rhyolite Ridge Lithium Mine Project is critical to advancing the clean energy transition and powering the economy of the future.” Laura Daniel-Davis, acting assistant secretary of the interior, said in a statement. “This project and the process we have undertaken demonstrates that we can pursue responsible development of critical minerals here in the United States while protecting the health of our lands and public resources.”

In the final allowsThe Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management has determined that the mine will not endanger the survival of Tiehm’s buckwheat, a wildflower that grows only on lithium- and boron-rich soil in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The agency noted that Ioneer plans to protect about 719 acres designated as critical habitat for the wildflower.

Major lithium discoveries

Last week, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment’s Office of the State Geologist announced that the discovery of a vast lithium reserve that contains more than nine times the International Energy Agency’s projection of global demand for lithium for electric vehicles in 2030. A relic of an ancient sea that left extensive, porous and permeable limestone geology, the Formation Smackover extends under parts of Arkansas. , Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida and could contain between 5 and 19 million tons of lithium reserves.

“Our research was able to estimate for the first time the total amount of lithium present in the southwestern part of the Smackover in Arkansas. We estimate that there is enough dissolved lithium present in that region to replace lithium imports from the US and others. It is important to note that these estimates are a spot assessment. We have not estimated what is technically recoverable based on newer methods of extracting lithium from brine,” said Katherine Knierim, a hydrologist and principal investigator of the study.

The USGS estimates that there is enough lithium brought to the surface in the oil and brine waste streams of southern Arkansas to cover the current estimated US lithium consumption. The US relies on imports for more than 25% of its lithium.

The Smackover formation is the latest in a series of large lithium discoveries made by the USGS in recent years. Last year, USGS by accident they discovered lithium deposits larger than the Bolivian salt pan, home to the world’s largest lithium reserves. Although the discovery itself was not news, a new study was published in the journal Advances in science estimates that McDermitt Caldera, a volcanic crater on the Nevada-Oregon border, hosts 20 to 40 million metric tons of lithium deposits, nearly double Bolivia’s 23 million metric tons in the upper range.

“If you believe their back-of-the-envelope estimate, this is a very, very significant lithium deposit. It could change the dynamics of lithium globally, in terms of price, security of supply and geopolitics“, said Anouk Borst, a geologist at KU Leuven University, who was not involved in the study. The world of chemistry.

It is estimated that the caldera was formed about 16.4 million years ago after a massive magma eruption. The lithium is deposited in a unique lithium-rich illite over 600 feet deep. To further sweeten the deal, deposits are mostly concentrated in one place, limiting the area affected by mining.

“They seem to have hit the sweet spot where the clays are kept close to the surface so they won’t have to mine as much rock, but it hasn’t been removed yet.Borst said The World of Chemistry.

Last year, the US Department of Energy discovery a massive lithium deposit under the Salton Sea in California that holds about 18 million tons of lithium. According to the DoE, with expected technological advances, the total resources of the Salton Sea region could produce more than 3,400 kilotons of lithium, worth up to $540 billion and enough to support more than 375 million electric vehicle batteries (EV) – more than the total number of vehicles currently on US roads.

“Lithium is vital to decarbonizing the economy and meeting President Biden’s goals of 50 percent electric vehicle adoption by 2030,” said Jeff Marootian, Principal Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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