What They're Not Telling You About the McDermitt Caldera Discovery

Dear Reader,

News of the recent discovery at the McDermitt Caldera is the biggest story to hit the lithium sector in decades.

In case you missed it, several weeks ago, a geological study was published that concluded that the caldera — an ancient remnant of the Yellowstone Supervolcano — contained between 20 million and 40 million tons of lithium metal. 

If proven true, this resource would eclipse the national lithium reserves of the world’s most lithium-abundant nation — Bolivia — and account for up to one-third of the world’s total known reserves.

Located along the Nevada-Oregon border, this newfound wealth would increase the U.S.’s lithium reserves by up to 40x — up from just barely 1 million tons total.

Now, if you follow the lithium market at all, you understand how significant this is on multiple levels. 

First of all, current annual global lithium production will fall short of demand for the first time ever starting next year. 

That rapidly approaching deficit is the single biggest factor pushing lithium prices through the roof over the last couple years.

Driven by the exploding popularity of electric vehicles, decentralized power storage systems, renewable energy production, and, of course, the ballooning wireless device market, demand is projected to grow, and to continue to accelerate, until at least the middle of the century. 

The Chinese Have Had Their Eye on Your Lithium Appetite for a While

That alone makes new sources of lithium absolutely crucial to the continuation of modern life on Earth, but there is more at play here. 

You see, lithium may also be the world's most important strategic resource.

Right now the world’s undisputed champion of the lithium supply chain is none other than the Chinese Communist Party, which has been planning for just this sort of scenario to play out across the consumer tech markets for decades. 

Without substantial Chinese-independent sources of lithium coming online in the very near future, it's fairly safe to say that we'd be well along the way to becoming prisoners of our own lifestyles.

With the discovery at McDermitt Caldera, however, this entire equation seemingly gets derailed. After all, it's enough lithium to supply global demand, all on its own, for up to two decades.

But is it really that simple? Can all of our lithium problems really be cured with this silver bullet windfall?

The answer, regrettably, is no.

Though it’s hard to downplay the importance of the discovery, the nature of the lithium mining business simply won’t allow a resource of even this magnitude to make a serious dent in the nature of the industry for years to come.

Even with this unprecedented treasure trove of lithium, the road ahead is a long and uncertain one. There is still drilling and assaying to be done. There is infrastructure to be secured, delivered, and installed. There is mining to be done, and after that, there is refining — a process that can take two years just on its own. 

10 Years From Now… It Could All Be Over

All in all, it could be as much as a decade before the McDermitt lithium resource starts to put salable product on the market. 

By that time, the world will have changed. 

Lithium prices will skyrocket even further, right alongside with demand, and the Chinese will continue to expand their market share and perfect their vertical integration with projects much further along in the development process. 

From exploration to battery production, they will own every link of the supply chain long before the first gram of lithium leaves the caldera.

If we want to solve our lithium problems, we need a short-term solution just to get us to the point where long-term projects like the McDermitt Caldera can start to make a difference. 

Though the news media have been far less eager to cover it, another, potentially more significant discovery may have already taken care of that.

But its significance isn't based on its size, rather its revolutionary nature.

This wasn’t a geological discovery… It was a technological one. 

You see, quite recently, a Vancouver-based lithium technology became a pioneer in a new type of extraction.

Using a proprietary filtration system, they're separating lithium from standard oil field brine. 

Sounds strange, right? The world’s most important green-energy metal in the stuff oil and gas companies use to squeeze fossil fuels from deep within the earth… but that’s exactly what’s going on here. 

Lithium From Oil? Introducing: Black Lithium

Operating on a privately owned oil field up in northwestern Alberta, this company is about to tap into a series of brine ponds containing an estimated 4.3 million tons of lithium bicarbonate. 

This lithium has long been known to be dissolved in the solution, but it wasn’t until a group of experts from the petrochemical industry got together with the sole task of coming up with a way to filter the brine that any of it was accessible. 

Today, this company has a pilot plant in operation and can separate lithium from the brine at an efficiency of up to 97%.

No geological surveys necessary. No drilling. No assaying. No mining. 

The company simply pumps the brine through its facility, harvests the lithium, and returns the brine for continued use. 

It now has a standing contract with the owner of this oil field and can produce lithium in as little as two months at a cost of around $4,000 per ton. 

In a market where lithium is trading for upward of $70,000 per ton, you can see where things get interesting. 

All told, this resource is worth north of $320 billion… and commercial production is set to kick off next year. 

This Could Be a Billion-Dollar Buyout Before the Next Election Cycle Ends

Like I said, this discovery could very well put the McDermitt Caldera news to shame once things get ramped up. 

It’s quick, it’s cheap, it’s readily scalable, and it opens up untold lithium wealth around the world — forever revolutionizing a traditionally slow and inefficient process.

Now, you might think that this company is a major operation worth billions of dollars, with contracts in place worth many billions more. 

You would only be partially correct. 

This company has been in talks with major automakers to become their source of North American lithium for their own battery production needs. 

Its valuation, however, as of this morning, is just $31 million… less than 1/100th the size of some of the mining giants it will be competing against starting next year. 

Are you starting to see the potential yet?

This Is THE Ground-Floor Lithium Play of the Decade

$320 billion worth of lithium… rapid, scalable production… interest from major end users… a market that’s growing so fast the industry is having trouble keeping up. 

Put it all together and you have what I believe to be the most prospective lithium pure play trading anywhere on the public markets today. 

There’s a lot more to this story, as you may have expected. 

There’s a lot more to know about the company and its stock — which is actively trading on both Canadian and U.S. exchanges as you read this. 

I’ve done the homework and compiled everything into a quick presentation, available to you now, for immediate viewing. 

Enter here to learn more.

Fortune favors the bold,

Alex Koyfman

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His flagship service, Microcap Insider, provides market-beating insights into some of the fastest moving, highest profit-potential companies available for public trading on the U.S. and Canadian exchanges. With more than 5 years of track record to back it up, Microcap Insider is the choice for the growth-minded investor. Alex contributes his thoughts and insights regularly to Energy and Capital. To learn more about Alex, click here.