The Electric: A Big New U.S. Source of Lithium? Maybe.

A new report claims that Nevada land leased by lithium developer American Battery Technology Co. could contain the largest lithium deposit in the U.S., enough to equip 1.5 million electric vehicle batteries a year. 

The claim carries two big caveats: American Battery must do more work to confirm the size of the deposit, and it must perfect a novel and unproven way to extract the lithium. 

In a 96-page study released last week, Respec, a South Dakota-based firm that assesses mining reserves, called the roughly 10,000-acre property in central Nevada the largest known lithium deposit in the U.S. in terms of total potential lithium in place. American Battery paid for the Respec study, a common practice in the mining industry.