Hidden $65bn lithium motherlode mapped beneath America’s oldest mountains could power
A vast lithium motherlode may be hidden beneath America’s oldest mountains that could supply the US with enough of the critical mineral to last for centuries.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) announced that an estimated 2.5 million tons of lithium could lie buried within the Appalachian Mountains, with major concentrations in the Carolinas and New England.
Officials said the projected supply could replace roughly 328 years of US lithium imports at current levels, marking what they described as a major step toward strengthening America’s mineral independence. The supply would be worth around $64.4 billion.
Scientists estimated that the lithium could power about 1.6 million grid-scale batteries or as many as 130 million electric vehicles.
It could also supply roughly 180 billion laptops, enough for a thousand years of global use, and up to 500 billion cellphones, or about 60 devices for every person on Earth.
USGS Director Ned Mamula said in a statement: ‘This research shows that the Appalachians contain enough lithium to help meet the nation’s growing needs, a major contribution to US mineral security at a time when global lithium demand is rising rapidly.’
The Appalachian Mountains, formed roughly 480 million years ago, are among the oldest mountain ranges in the world and the oldest in North America.
Because of their immense age, lithium-rich rocks formed during ancient tectonic collisions, when continents slammed together to create the supercontinent Pangea, generating intense heat and pressure that produced lithium-bearing pegmatites deep within the crust.
The Appalachian Mountains, formed roughly 480 million years ago, are among the oldest mountain ranges in the world and the oldest in North America
Researchers identified up to 18 separate lithium-rich districts along the Appalachian Mountains, from the Carolinias up into New England
Secretary of the US Department of the Interior Doug Burgum shared the announcement on X, saying: ‘USGS has found that the Appalachian region of the US contains enough lithium to replace 328 YEARS of imports!
‘Thanks to world-leading mineral science, permitting reform and renewed investment in domestic mining, POTUS has reclaimed America’s mineral independence.’
The USGS published a study this week noting that the northern Appalachian region contains thousands of pegmatite rock bodies, the main type of rock where lithium is typically found, most made of quartz, feldspar and mica, with a smaller number containing lithium.
The discovery of thousands of these pegmatite bodies suggested the region has the natural building blocks needed to host lithium-rich deposits, helping explain why scientists believe large reserves may exist there.
During the work, researchers identified up to 18 separate lithium-rich districts across the region, further strengthening the case for significant untapped resources.
In the Carolinas, scientists pointed to the historic Carolina tin-spodumene belt, an area already known for lithium-rich rock containing spodumene, one of the main minerals used to produce lithium for electric vehicle batteries, smartphones and grid-scale energy storage.
Farther north in Maine, near the town of Newry, a deposit known as Plumbago North contains massive spodumene crystals measuring more than 33 feet long, making it one of the most promising potential lithium sources in the region.
Smaller lithium-bearing rock bodies formed there over millions of years, including during later mountain-building periods and even as recently as the Jurassic era, approximately 201 million to 145 million years ago.
The USGS labeled the lithium districts in three domains, with Domain 1 potentially having the most lithium deposts, following by Domain 2 and Domain 3
Across the region, scientists found several types of lithium minerals, including spodumene and lepidolite, both widely used in lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles, laptops, and phones.
Other minerals, such as triphylite, montebrasite and amblygonite, can also be processed into lithium used in batteries and renewable energy storage, with one area in New Hampshire known as the Grafton district dominated by these phosphate-based lithium minerals.
The USGS projects global lithium production capacity will double by 2029 as demand continues to surge, making supply security an increasingly urgent priority for technology companies.
China currently dominates the global lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle supply chain, controlling up to 70 percent of processing and refining capacity and roughly 80 percent of battery cell production.
‘The US was the dominant world producer of lithium three decades ago, and this research highlights the abundant potential to reclaim our mineral independence,’ USGS Director Ned Mamula said in a statement.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) announced that an estimated 2.5 million tons of lithium could lie buried within the Appalachian Mountains (stock)
Scientists divided the lithium-rich districts into three regions, known as Domains 1, 2 and 3, to estimate how much lithium may still be hidden underground.
Domain 1 quickly stood out as the most promising, with an average estimate of about 213 million tons of ore, more than three times the roughly 64 million tons estimated in Domain 2 and about 23 times the roughly 9 million tons projected in Domain 3.
Of the three areas, Domain 1 also showed the highest number of potential undiscovered deposits, averaging about 2.3 deposits, far more than the other regions.
Researchers calculated that Domain 1 has a 90 percent chance of containing at least one undiscovered deposit, about a 70 percent chance of containing at least two, roughly a 40 percent chance of containing at least three, and about a 10 percent chance of containing as many as five deposits.
By comparison, Domain 3 showed the lowest potential, with scientists estimating a 90 percent chance that no undiscovered deposits exist there and only about a 10 percent chance that even one deposit might be present.
Domain 2 fell somewhere in between, with about a 50 percent chance of hosting at least one deposit, although its average estimate of 0.73 deposits placed it closer to Domain 3 than Domain 1 in overall potential.