At this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, which ended in mid-November, six car manufacturers and 30 governments pledged to end sales of gas- and diesel-powered cars by 2040 or by 2035 in “leading markets.” The pledge is not legally binding, but it represents the global trend toward electric vehicle ownership; in its annual Electric Vehicle Outlook for 2021, BloombergNEF predicted that sales of new electric cars would approach 70 million in 2040, compared to less than 5 million in 2020. To that end, the International Energy Agency predicts that demand for lithium will outpace production by 2030.
The McDermitt Caldera formed about 16 million years ago along the Oregon-Nevada border as a result of activity in the Yellowstone Hotspot, a “melting anomaly” that caused materials in the earth’s crust to melt, which then fed a body of magma beneath the surface. Over the last 16 million years, tectonic plates passing over the hotspot have caused a series of calderas that range from the oldest, McDermitt, to the newest, Yellowstone.
In August 2021, Australian company Jindalee Resources Limited confirmed the McDermitt Lithium Project as the largest in the United States. The following month, Jindalee claimed the project contained enough lithium to justify the development of an independent mining and processing operation. On Nov. 29, Jindalee announced that the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries had authorized it to drill 39 holes in the McDermitt Caldera: 29 to gather information, and 10 to determine how much lithium exists in the rest of the caldera. The project began with a diamond drill rig, and Jindalee expects results by March 2022.
Controversially, a mining operation on the Nevada side — owned by a subsidiary of Canadian-owned Lithium Americas: Lithium Nevada — began operating after less than a month-long window for public comment and a significantly shortened environmental review period. In April 2021, the Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone Tribal council elected to withdraw from its agreement with Lithium Nevada in response to concerns from Tribal members about the extensive negative impact the mining operation will have on the region.
By Grace Miller
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