Dr. Thomas Banson’s research team at Columbia University discovered a highly concentrated lithium deposit. The
concentration was found to be more than twice that of lithium discovered so far.
“This will be the best place to meet the rapidly increasing demand for battery lithium.”
At Thacker Pass
in Nevada, USA. It was confirmed that concentrated lithium was buried in large quantities. The concentrated lithium discovered here was found to have a concentration more than twice that of the lithium revealed so far. Analysis suggests that this is a meaningful discovery in a situation where the transition to electric vehicles is accelerating and competition to secure lithium, a key mineral for batteries, is fierce.
Dr. Thomas Banson’s research team at Columbia University’s Lamont Dougherty Earth Observatory announced on the 31st in the international academic journal ‘Science Advances’ that they had confirmed that lithium concentrations more than twice as high were buried in 토토사이트Nevada , USA .
The research team discovered a new type of lithium deposit in volcanic lake deposits in the McDermitt Caldera at Thacker Pass . Thacker Pass is the largest lithium mining project in North America. This mine, located in Humboldt County, northern Nevada, USA, has 3.1 million tons of lithium carbonate for batteries. It is capable of extracting 80,000 tons of lithium annually.
According to the study, large-scale lithium enrichment occurred during the formation of the caldera about 16.4 to 16.1 million years ago. Research is still in progress into the detailed process by which concentrated lithium was formed and the characteristics of the sediment layer.
What is noteworthy is that the concentration of lithium found in the deposit discovered by the research team is more than twice that of lithium found in other areas. In the case of lithium buried throughout the entire caldera area, the average concentration is 1000 to 4000 ppm (unit representing concentration). However, the lithium concentration discovered by the research team at Thacker Pass was more than twice as high at 4000-8000 ppm. In some cases, concentrations up to 9000ppm were detected.
A high concentration of lithium can save production costs. Jay Park, a senior researcher at POSCO Management Research Institute, said, “It is a positive factor from a company’s perspective because higher lithium concentration means lower production costs.”
In fact, General Motors ( GM ) , an American automobile manufacturer, announced last month that it would build an electric vehicle battery supply chain by developing the Thacker Pass mine. Once the Thacker Pass mine development is completed, GM will be able to secure enough lithium to produce 1 million electric vehicles per year.
Although the world is increasing lithium supply, many say it is not enough to keep up with the rapidly increasing demand for electric vehicle batteries. The research team explained that in a situation where lithium supply shortages are increasing, the results of this study will have significant impact on the battery industry. “The highly concentrated lithium discovered in caldera lake sediments is likely to be the best exploration target to meet the growing demand for lithium,” said Dr. Banson.