Consequently, they project the illite in Thacker Pass holds more than twice as much lithium than the neighboring smectite. “That’s really helpful to change exploration strategy,” Benson says.

The US holds one of the biggest known lithium reserves in the world. Figuring out how it got there could be the key to finding more of the “white gold” used in EVs and batteries.

By contrast, the illite at Thacker Pass averages over 12,000 ppm, with some samples exceeding 18,000 — making them the most lithium-rich clays found to date.

Illite–smectite interstratified clay minerals are ubiquitous in sedimentary basins and they have been linked to the maturation, migration and trapping of hydrocarbons1, rock cementation2 ...

Charles Verdel *, Nathan Niemi, Ben A. van der Pluijm, Variations in the Illite to Muscovite Transition Related to Metamorphic Conditions and Detrital Muscovite Content: Insight from the Paleozoic ...