| Basis for focus area |
Lithium brine and clay; large focus area outlining playas from Nevada state geologic map (buffered with 5 km to include surrounding alluvium) in northwestern and central Nevada. |
| Identified resources |
None. |
| Production |
None. |
| Status |
Active exploration projects, including Railroad Valley, Dixie Valley, and Gabbs Valley. Multiple presumed lithium placer claims. |
| Estimated resources |
Unknown. |
| Geologic maps |
Stewart and Carlson (1978), scale 1:500,000. |
| Geophysical data |
Partly adequate (5%) aeromagnetic coverage. Inadequate aeroradiometric coverage. |
| Favorable rocks and structures |
Unconsolidated sediments in closed basins. |
| Deposits |
None (at this time). |
| Evidence from mineral occurrences |
Active exploration in multiple HUC8s. MRDS occurrences for lithium, borates in some playas. |
| Geochemical evidence |
Lithium analyses for Dixie Valley (Huntington and others, 2014); Lithium analyses in sediments across Nevada (Bohannon and Meier, 1976). |
| Geophysical evidence |
Unknown. |
| Evidence from other sources |
Nevada inferred placer claims for lithium (Nevada Division of Minerals Open Site Data, 2022). |
| Comments |
Models for Li brines and clays both require a Li source, and the source will be Neogene volcanic and sedimentary rocks within a HUC or within a neighboring HUC. Mapping could identify these lithologies and their location with respect to basins (in the center of a HUC). |
| Cover thickness and description |
Sediment and clay at the surface and at depth. |
| Authors |
Lisa L. Stillings. |
| New data needs |
Geologic mapping, geophysics, geochemistry. |
| Geologic mapping and modeling needs |
Updated geologic mapping. |
| Geophysical survey and modeling needs |
High-resolution, Rank 1 aeromagnetic and aeroradiometric surveys. Any geophysics that can define basin depth, geometry, volume, cross-cutting structures would be helpful for calculating the volume of brine, where to drill in the basin, or whether basin fluids might flow into an adjacent basin. |
| Digital elevation data needs |
Lidar inadequate for much of this large focus area; some areas in progress. |
