Clay-Type Lithium Mine Discovered in US

A world-class clay-type lithium mine discovered in the US, according to the Mining News website, Jindalee Resources Ltd (Jindalee) has received the final assays from a recent drilling program at McDermitt Lithium Project in Nevada, USA, and revealed that the mine has become one of the largest lithium deposits in the US.

In the past year and a half, Jindalee evaluated the lithium mineralization potential of the clay layer at the McDermott caldera and increased its exploration target by a factor of six according to the results.

The upper tonnage limit of the 1000 ppm cut off exploration target at McDermitt covers the entire claims area, consistent with the discovery of extensive lithium-bearing sediments outcropping continuously or under shallow cover over this area. According to the 0.1% cut-off grade, the clay resource of the deposit is 2.2 billion tons to 4 billion tons, the average grade is 0.12 to 0.16%, and the median value is calculated to be 23.1 million tons of lithium carbonate.

The initial exploration target of the project is that the ore volume is 160 million tons to 780 million tons, and the lithium grade is 0.13 to 0.16%. The nearest diamond drill saw 36 meters of mine and 0.2141% of lithium grade, including mineralization of 20 meters thick and 0.2732% lithium grade. If the cut-off grade is increased to 0.2%, the ore amount is 140 million tons to 180 million tons, the grade is 0.2% to 2.4%, and the median value of lithium carbonate is 1.9 million tons.

Thick layers of mineralized sedimentary rocks were discovered through drilling, and the distribution area was larger than expected, thus expanding the prospecting potential.

Although the grade of the deposit is lower than that of Australia's hard rock type lithium mine, it is higher than the brine type lithium mine, and the mine could be seen from the surface, with a wide distribution area and loose ore. At the McDermott caldera, Lithium Americas is also exploring and developing such deposits.

Because of the low production mines and strong demand for lithium-ion batteries, lithium has been listed as a key mineral by the US government. The new lithium mine discovery in the USA is particularly significant to the US future national security due to its current reliance on imported lithium-ion batteries and lithium battery chemicals to support a rapidly growing electric vehicle manufacturing industry.

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