Jindalee claims McDermitt project is the US largest lithium deposit

Australia’s Jindalee Resources (ASX: JRL) says it has the largest lithium deposit in the United States after updating the resource for its McDermitt project to 21.5-million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), up 65% from the 13.3 million tonnes reported last year.

The asset, on the Nevada-Oregon border, is now estimated to hold combined indicated and inferred mineral resources of 3 billion tonnes grading 1,340 parts per million. This makes it the biggest lithium deposit in the U.S. by contained lithium in mineral resource, Jindalee Resources said.

The project has taken over Lithium America’s (TSX: LAC; NYSE: LAC) 16.1 million tonnes of LCE Thacker Pass project, in the southern sector of the McDermitt caldera.

Jindalee believes its project, in southeast Oregon, can play a role in the U.S. battery push as a source of domestically produced lithium supply.

The company hopes to tap into funding under the White House’s US$369-billion Inflation Reduction Act, under which a US$700-million loan for Rhyolite Ridge has been granted to Ioneer (ASX: INR). Lithium Americas could also receive a loan of up to 75% of the capital costs for Thacker Pass.