Major Lithium Deposits and Prospects Across Five U.S. States

U.S. Geological Survey data describes approximately 20 U.S. mineral sites with lithium resources or past production exceeding 15,000 metric tons. Sites occur in Arkansas, California, Nevada, North Carolina, and Utah, with data compiled from published geologic and exploration studies. The database focuses on larger deposits to characterize U.S. lithium resources, which are primarily imported.

Use Cases

• Analyze the geographic distribution of lithium deposits across states like Arkansas, California, and Nevada to identify regional resource clusters.
• Assess the economic potential of sites by filtering for those with a contained resource or past production greater than 15,000 metric tons.
• Compare deposit types such as pegmatite, closed-basin brine, or lithium-bearing clay minerals mentioned in the description for geological modeling.
• Map excluded deposits from states like Arizona and Colorado that did not meet the resource cutoff to understand the full resource landscape.

Strengths

• Focuses on significant deposits with a clear resource cutoff, including only sites with over 15,000 metric tons of lithium.
• Compiled from authoritative sources including State, Federal, and industry geologic reports and exploration studies.
• Covers deposits in five key U.S. states, providing a targeted view of domestic lithium potential.

Limitations

• Small sample size of approximately 20 sites, limiting statistical analysis and broad generalization.
• Resource estimates from older sources may not comply with current industry standards like NI 43-101 or JORC Code.
• Excludes known deposits in several states (e.g., Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico) that did not meet the specific resource threshold, presenting an incomplete national picture.

Provenance

Source

Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

Collection Method

Entries derived from published papers, reports, data, and internet documents representing geologic and exploration studies.

Time Range

Includes historical production from the late 1800s and references data up to 2019.

Freshness

Data was last updated on 2026-01-06, indicating recent maintenance.

Geography

United States, specifically sites in Arkansas, California, Nevada, North Carolina, and Utah. Mentions excluded occurrences in Arizona, Colorado, New England, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Wyoming.