Clayton Valley South

Location: Nevada, United States (37.683, -117.608 approx.)

Commodities: lithium

Deposit model: lithium brine · unclassified

Geology

“The lithium-rich brines pumped from beneath Clayton Valley, Nevada, provide about one-third of the present United States requirements for lithium. Although the pre-Tertiary rocks in the vicinity do not contain anomalous amounts of lithium, the Tertiary volcanics that abound in the area could have been the origin of the lithium. Extensive diagenetic alteration of vitric material has taken place, and high lithium concentrations are associated with smectite in the Miocene Esmeralda Formation exposed east of the playa. The brines contain about 20 percent sodium chloride and as much as about 320 parts per million of lithium. The deuterium contents of two samples of the brine are -97 and -113 per mil Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water. The deuterium content of the brine is close to that of the recharge to the aquifers beneath the playa. Springs in the recharge area range from -106 to -114. The brine results from solution by ground water of halite beds that are high in lithium. These salt beds probably were formed during the desiccation of a small saline lake that occupied the position of the present playa.” (Davis and others (1986))

Published resource estimates

As compiled by USGS USMIN from the cited studies. Resource classes follow the source; "approximate" flags values USMIN reports as approximations. These are not current company reserve statements.

Exploration and site history

• Site: “The Clayton Valley Property is located in central Esmeralda County, Nevada. The nearest town is Silver Peak, which lies approximately 5 km (3 miles) to the northwest. The geographic coordinates at the approximate center of the property are 37° 41’ 00” N by 117° 36’ 30” W. The property consists of 1,085 lithium placer claims located in the southern half of Clayton Valley. The placer claims are comprised of blocks to the south and north of the Albemarle property. In their entirety, the claims controlled by PEM occupy approximately 106 km2 (10,600 ha or 26,300 acres). All 1,085 claims are located on unencumbered public land managed by the United States (U.S.) Bureau of Land Management (BLM).” (Molnar and others (2018))
• Resources: “The Resource Estimate totals 40,900 tonnes (45,085 tons) of elemental lithium. This can also be represented as 217,700 tonnes (240,000 tons) on an LCE basis or 247,300 tonnes (272,600 tons) as LiOH?H2O. The average lithium concentration is 123 mg/L based on the calculated lithium mass and the theoretical drainable volume of the host brine aquifer. A substantial part of the brine volume falls between concentrations of 65 mg/L and 221 mg/L lithium.” (Molnar and others (2018))
• Discovery — Lithium was initially discovered in the 1950's in the Clayton Valley, though the discovery of this site is considered 2009 by Rodinia, 1950 (Feyerabend (2014))
• Evaluation — NI 43-101 compliant report, 2018 (Molnar and others (2018))
• Evaluation — NI 43-101 compliant report, 2014 (Feyerabend (2014))
• Evaluation — NI 43-101 compliant report, 2017 (Blois and others (2017))
• Evaluation — NI 43-101 compliant report, 2015 (Spanjers (2015))
• Exploration — There has been three phases of exploration, (1) Rodinia 2009-2010, (2) PEM 2014-2015, (3) PEM 2015-2017, 2009–2017 (Molnar and others (2018))

Record imported from USGS USMIN ver. 4.0 (June 2019). Developments after that date appear on facility records, not here; see the methodology.