@domesticsupply on Twitter found this gem:

https://t.co/aQly3AgPof

"The concentrations of lithium in some surface soils may or may not reflect the actual lithium potential of 

the underlying sediments or brine deposits. Davis (1976) studied the influence of drainage area on the 

distribution of lithium in playa sediments. Using a value of 300+ ppm lithium as “anomalous,” he found 

only 4 of the 41 valleys he studied could be classified as anomalous. Two well-known playas, Searles Lake 

and Great Salt Lake, both with known lithium-enriched brines did not have anomalous lithium content in 

surface sediments.

For comparison, the Kings Valley Lithium Project, now known as the Thacker Pass Project, is a lithium-clay 

deposit in the McDermitt caldera complex in northern Nevada (Humboldt County) and southern Oregon. 

This deposit has been under study since lithium was first found in the area in the late-1970s, and 

according to Castor and Henry (2020), constitutes possibly the “world’s largest Li clay resource.” These 

sediments contain concentrations of lithium up to 3,000 ppm, with entire sedimentary sections in the 

southern and western parts of the caldera basin containing lithium concentrations greater than or equal to 

500 ppm. The Thacker Pass Project, approved by BLM in January 2021, would require the development of 

an 1,100-acre open-pit mine; the construction of a refining facility, including a sulfuric acid plant for use in 

a leaching process and a lithium processing plant; and construction of other support facilities, with a total 

footprint of about 5,700 acres. Projected water demand for the project is 2,600 acre-feet/year for Phase I 

and 5,200 acre-feet/year for Phase II (BLM, 2020)."