The United States just hit the lithium jackpot. Twice. Not one but two of the largest lithium deposits in the world have been found within its borders. This isn’t just a geological windfall. It is a geopolitical shift, and the timing could not be more strategic.
Tucked between Oregon and Nevada, the McDermitt Caldera is now recognized as the largest known lithium deposit on Earth. The numbers are staggering. Up to 40 million metric tons of lithium lie beneath its volcanic soil. At current demand levels, this single deposit could power the nation’s lithium needs for over three centuries.
That kind of supply is not just about batteries. It is about leverage. For the first time in modern history, the United States may hold the cards in a mineral market long dominated by rivals. At the top of that list: China.
The discovery’s implications are global. China currently refines the vast majority of the world’s lithium and controls much of its supply. With the McDermitt Caldera now on the map, that dominance is at risk. A $1.5 trillion resource hidden in plain sight is finally within reach.
But the United States did not stop there. In the southern states, more lithium has been found. In fact, what could be the second-largest deposit on the planet is emerging from the ground in two regions: the Salton Sea in California and the Smackover Formation in Arkansas.
The Salton Sea is already turning heads. Its estimated 18 million metric tons of lithium sit in geothermal brine, waiting to be drawn up with minimal environmental disruption. This deposit alone could power batteries for over 375 million electric vehicles. That’s more than the number of cars currently on American roads.
What makes this find especially critical is the extraction method. Unlike traditional open-pit mining, lithium at Salton is collected from geothermal power production. The process is cleaner, faster, and less destructive. It’s also happening on American soil, under American regulation, employing American workers.
Arkansas brings a different kind of opportunity. The Smackover Formation, long known for its bromine, is revealing another gift: lithium-rich brines. Estimates range between 5 and 19 million metric tons. And because lithium is extracted as a byproduct, the environmental cost is lower and infrastructure already exists.
These discoveries go far beyond market valuation. They are a direct answer to one of the most critical energy questions of our time: how does the United States break free from foreign supply chains? For too long, American-made products have faced regulatory thickets abroad while the domestic market has been left wide open to imports.
Exactly. Many U.S. products face stiff regulations and the like that it almost tells you American products are not welcome, for example in Vietnam, unless you wade through a haystack of needles. That’s how hard it is to drive a U.S. product into foreign markets. But foreign products flood the American economy with shocking ease. This kind of asymmetry is what has hollowed out domestic industry.
Now, with mineral wealth surging from its own ground, the U.S. can finally begin to correct that imbalance. It’s not just about building batteries. It’s about rebuilding sovereignty.
Alongside lithium, these regions are also showing deposits of cobalt, manganese, graphite, and nickel. All of them are essential to the energy future. All of them are found in areas the U.S. controls.
Source Links:
https://bigthink.com/hard-science/us-largest-known-lithium-deposit-world/
https://phys.org/news/2023-08-evidence-mcdermitt-caldera-largest-lithium.html
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-giant-hidden-source-of-lithium-was-just-discovered-in-arkansas
https://www.newsweek.com/enormous-reserve-hidden-treasure-found-under-arkansas-1972840