A Game Changer ... If We Can Develop It

"Lithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ever found"--Chemistry World. 

    A world-beating deposit of lithium along the Nevada–Oregon border could meet surging demand for this metal, according to a new analysis.

    An estimated 20 to 40 million tonnes of lithium metal lie within a volcanic crater formed around 16 million years ago. This is notably larger than the lithium deposits found beneath a Bolivian salt flat, previously considered the largest deposit in the world. Mining at the site is, however, contested by Native Americans for whom the area is sacred, and is believed to be where a massacre took place in 1865.

    ‘If you believe their back-of-the-envelope estimation, this is a very, very significant deposit of lithium,’ says Anouk Borst, a geologist at KU Leuven University and the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. ‘It could change the dynamics of lithium globally, in terms of price, security of supply and geopolitics.’

    New in situ analysis reveals that an unusual claystone, composed of the mineral illite, contains 1.3% to 2.4% of lithium in the volcanic crater. This is almost double the lithium present in the main lithium-bearing clay mineral, magnesium smectite, which is more common than illite.

The crater at issue is the McDermitt caldera. But as Popular Mechanics relates:

    This high concentration is found primarily at Thacker Pass in Nevada, and is already a controversial mining location. The area, also known as Peehee Mu'huh, is the homeland of many indigenous tribes and played an important role in its historical clash with U.S. soldiers. An indigenous organization dedicated to protecting the site even called potential mining operations a form of “green colonialism,” and is also engaged in stopping a mining site on the Oregon side of the caldera as well.

    Apart from its cultural impact, any mining project in the area could also affect groundwater levels for local farmers and ranchers, not to mention its disruption to local fauna, such as pronghorn antelope, golden eagles, and sage grouse.

American Indians are animists, so every rock and tree is sacred to them. Moreover, a court already determined that there was no evidence that the Peehee Mu'Huh Massacre actually occurred in Thacker Pass at the proposed mining location. In that regard, I found this humorous:

“The memory of the massacre lives on in the land. Destroying the land where the massacre happened makes it more difficult to imagine that massacre,” said [Will] Falk [the attorney representing the tribes]. “Destroying massacre sites destroys the evidence of the massacres. And, when the American government and others have worked to suppress the history of genocide against Native Americans, we need to preserve those massacre sites.”

But if there is no evidence of the massacre at the site, what is there to destroy? 

    Although a different state, this raises some of the same issues: "Biden admin proposes 50-year drilling, mining ban for thousands of acres of land in New Mexico"--Just The News.

    The Department of the Interior on Monday announced a proposal to bar oil and gas development in large swathes of New Mexico in a bid to protect sensitive lands that some Indian tribes consider sacred.

    The ban would affect more than 4,000 acres within Sandoval County, and aims to "safeguard sacred Tribal lands, boost important local recreation opportunities, and support wildlife habitat connectivity," the agency stated. Prohibitions would last for 50 years but not impact existing development rights.

Obviously the Earth's future does not depend on developing electric vehicles or the people in charge would behave differently.