Quantitative mineral resource assessment of lithium pegmatite deposits in the Appalachian Orogen, USA
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Abstract
Lithium is classified as a U.S. critical mineral commodity, and its demand is projected to drastically increase through 2040, driven by electric vehicle production and energy storage applications (IEA 2021).Most global lithium production is not in the United States increasing vulnerability to a supply disruption. The U.S. Geological Survey is actively assessing domestic lithium deposits including lithium-bearing pegmatites in the Appalachian orogen. Permissive tracts for lithium pegmatite deposits were delineated by integrating lithological, tectonic, geochemical, geophysical, and mineral occurrence data. The geospatial data and permissive tracts were used to estimate the number of undiscovered lithium pegmatite deposits. Estimates were then integrated into probabilistic simulations along with a new global lithium pegmatite grade and tonnage dataset to quantify potential contained undiscovered lithium resources. An economic filter was used to estimate the amount of potentially recoverable undiscovered resources. Preliminary computations for the northern Appalachians, including application of the economic filter to the median recoverable contained resource, yields 900,000 metric tons of Li2O that correspond to enough Li2O to replace 127 years of import reliance at the current rate (7,100 t Li2O/yr; USGS, 2025). For the southern Appalachians, preliminary computations yielded 1,430,000 metric tons of Li2O, which corresponds to 201 years of import reliance.
Study Area
| Publication type | Conference Paper |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Conference Paper |
| Title | Quantitative mineral resource assessment of lithium pegmatite deposits in the Appalachian Orogen, USA |
| Volume | 3 |
| Year Published | 2025 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits |
| Contributing office(s) | Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, National Minerals Information Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center |
| Description | 4 p. |
| First page | 975 |
| Last page | 978 |
| Conference Title | 18th SGA Biennial Meeting |
| Conference Location | Golden, CO |
| Conference Date | August 3-7, 2025 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, |
| Other Geospatial | Appalachian Orogen |