Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Australia’s Jindalee Resources (ASX: JRL) says it has the largest lithium deposit in the United States after updating the resource for its McDermitt project to 21.5 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), up 65% from the 13.3 million tonnes reported last year.
The asset, on the Nevada-Oregon border, is now estimated to hold combined indicated and inferred mineral resources of three billion tonnes grading 1,340 parts per million. This makes it the biggest lithium deposit in the US by contained lithium in mineral resource, Jindalee Resources said.
The project has taken over Lithium America’s (TSX, NYSE: LAC) 16.1 million tonnes of LCE Thacker Pass project, in the southern sector of the McDermitt caldera.
Jindalee believes its project can play a role in the US battery push as a source of domestically produced lithium supply.
The company hopes to tap into funding under the White House’s $369 billion Inflation Reduction Act, which has already granted a $700 million loan for Rhyolite Ridge and up to 75% of the capital expenditure costs for Thacker Pass.
2 Comments
Rex River
The Bonnie St Claire project by Nevada Lithium, has a PEA of 18.5Mt at 1000 to 5000ppm. I’m sure with more testing it’ll be the largest in North America, with an updated assessment of 22-25Mt
Clark J. Gilbert
While size does matter, grade matters more.