About Lithium

USA

Source: Geology.com

Source: Geology.com

U S Geological Survey
Headquarters
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston,
VA 20192,
USA
703-648-5953
Contact
1-888-ASK-USGS
Email
Employee Directory
Web Chat

The Kings Mountain pegmatite belt has the most significant lithium pegmatite deposit in the U.S. The belt is 0.5–3 kilometres wide and extends about 50 kilometres northeast from North Carolina to South Carolina. Resource estimates include 45.6Mt with an average of 0.7% Li. Rockwood Lithium (NYSE:ROC) (also referred to as Chemetall, as it is a Chemetall Group Company) owns a pegmatite deposit in Kings Mountain that was originally exploited for its tin content, but is being mined for lithium. Also, in North Carolina is the Hallman-Beam pegmatite in Long Creek, operated by Lithium Corporation of America (purchased by FMC Corp. [NYSE:FMC]), which is estimated to have 62.3Mt of resources at an average 0.67% Li. The only other U.S.area with significant historic lithium production is the Harney Peak Granite Batholith in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Western Lithium’s (TSX:WLC) Kings Valley lithium project is located in Humboldt County in Northern Nevada. Lithium pegmatites can also be found in the Pala district of California and in the White Picacho district in Arizona; New Mexico has the Harding and Pidlite deposits.There are also some small pegmatite deposits in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New England. One of the first North American brine operations for the recovery of lithium was the Clayton Valley (Silver Peak) brine in Nevada. The production of lithium from Clayton Valley started in 1966 and was originally owned by Foote Mineral Company (acquired by Cyprus Minerals Company in 1988 and then by Chemetall in 1998). Over the years, the brines have been pumped at various depths and at an average concentration level that started at ~650 ppm but has since declined to ~200 ppm. Resources at Clayton Valley are estimated to be about 0.3Mt Li contained. The Searles Lake brines in California produced lithium as a by-product for a number of years; the brines have a low (>100 ppm) lithium concentration. Lithium can also be found in many other salt lakes in the U.S., including the Great Salt Lake, and in some oilfield brines, including the Smackover Formation in the northern Gulf Coast basin. Lithium might also be recovered as a by-product from geothermal power plants, as steam increases the concentration of elements in the waste waters. Simbol Materials LLC is considering extracting lithium from its Salton Sea geothermal project in California.