This area in the middle of nowhere Where the hell am I? is worth over a trillion dollars. and it might just be the most important plot of land in America right now. The McDermitt Caldera A 28 by 22 mile wide area that spans northern Nevada and southern Oregon. This is in Humboldt County, the northern most
county in the state. Quiet rural area with one major city. And it is about to look very different in the next
5 to 10 years. You see, something
was discovered right here at Thacker Pass. That's going to affect
the county, the state, the american economy,
international relations. I mean, the list
just goes on and on and there is plenty of
controversy surrounding it. I am in the
middle of nowhere. Welcome to Winnemucca. This is Winnemucca, Nevada. it's just a friendly, welcoming community, it's home. The city became a central shipping point to mines
after the completion of the Transcontinental
Railroad in 1869. Silver ore and gold were discovered through the 19th
and 20th centuries, boosting the town's
population and economy. I believe
Nevada is like the fourth largest producer of gold in the world. Gold is huge here. There are mines nearby that have been operating
for decades. Winnemucca
has always been a ranching and mining town. Most people in town
aren't raised here. They end up moving out here
by themselves or with their family
for work, and it's almost always work in the mines. And now a new discovery will change this place. You know, we won't
just be a stop on the road
on the way to Burning Man. Just north of Winnemucca is the McDermitt Caldera considered the origin point of the Yellowstone hotspot. Hotspots are caused by hot materials rising from near
the Earth's core. The hot materials heat up a magma chamber. And eventually, that pressure has to go somewhere. Eruption Lava spews out
all over and destroys everything in its path. Somewhere
between 16.3 and 16.4 million years ago. That now empty lava chamber eventually collapsed in on itself and created a caldera. The combination
of hydrothermal, fluid, rainwater and groundwater
creates a lake bed in the caldera. At some point
the magma looked like it would erupt again but didn't, and those rising temperatures pushed up
even more hydrothermal fluid that created
even more mineral enrichment. Over time,
the minerals settled to the bottom of the lake, and over more time,
the water in that lake evaporated and left a thick
layer of clay at the bottom. And this clay might as well just be a big pile
of muddy cache, because in this clay is white gold and a white gold rush is coming for Winnemucca. it's not the first gold rush that’s come to Winnemucca. Okay. I'm heading about 60 miles north of Winnemucca right now to an area
called Thacker Pass, the epicenter of lithium mining, not just in the McDermitt Caldera, but in all of America and kind of the world. So let's go see
what the most important plot of land in America looks like. It's about 15 miles
from Thacker Pass. I lost cell service, like, about 15 miles ago, So we are off the grid, Okay. I think we made it. You see, Thacker Pass has a very specific type of clay called illite clay. Different than the smectite clay that is more commonly found throughout the caldera that illite clay has an incredibly high concentration of lithium in it, more than double what's found in the smectite clay. The area was known
to have mercury gold, uranium
and gallium enrichments. But the behemoth
now is lithium. And that makes Thacker pass
one of the most important plots of land in America
right now. There's an estimated $3.9
billion worth of lithium back there 2 million tons more lithium than the current largest mine
in the world. In Bolivia. And the entire Mcdermitt Caldera is estimated to hold $1.5 trillion dollars of lithium, making it the largest reserve in the world. But it's currently untapped. Right now, about 90% of the world's lithium is mined in Bolivia,
Chile, China and Australia. And the U.S. currently imports its lithium from those countries. China dominates the processing of lithium
globally and we are playing catch up. Just look
at the approval process for the mine at Thacker Pass, how quickly
it was pushed through. Maine has a large amount of lithium in hard rock, but the state has very strict laws around mining. North Carolina
also has lithium in hard rock, but mining there would require moving people
out of houses, of rezoning and all kinds
of other complexities. But companies
are still trying. There is a mine in Silver Peak Nevada
that mines lithium through brine and processes it using evaporation ponds, a process that takes time
and very specific climates. So it can't be done anywhere
and it's only a fraction of what could
be produced at Thacker Pass. And humanity is definitely going
to need that lithium. Let me show you. Humanity has lived
through the copper age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age. And now we are
in the early stages of the lithium age. The International Energy
Agency believes that the demand for lithium could rise 40 times by 2040. Lithium
is the main ingredient in the batteries
we use for our phones. Laptops, tablets, vapes, power tools, toothbrushes. Basically,
anything that uses a battery, and especially EVs
and other forms of renewable energy.
As America and the global population
transitions away from fossil fuels
and invest more in things like solar, wind and hydropower, the energy harvested
will need to be stored somewhere. More lithium ion batteries. Okay, I see some no trespassing signs. Now, a lot of companies
are looking for approval to mine here,
but only one company has it,
and that is Lithium Americas. which, by the way, just split into two, a North American entity and a South American entity. And a lot of people think
it was to distance themselves
from the South American entity
whose largest shareholder is Ganfeng Lithium,
a Chinese lithium company. the company has the rights
to mine acres of land here,
and it broke ground on the 30 month construction project in March. But it's estimated that mining
and processing of lithium here at Thacker Pass won't start until 2026. The company plans
to operate this mine for over 40 years, the first 20 of which
will remove material from above the water table
in an effort to not affect the supplies in the surrounding areas. with plans
to propose a safe way to mine
below the water table Yeah, I'm
sure it'll be very safe. General Motors has invested $650 million into lithium Americas to get exclusive rights to the lithium mined
here at Thacker Pass for the first ten years with an option to extend another five years. and Lithium Americas is pushing for approval
for other mines all throughout
the McDermitt Caldera. seems like a win win. Right? But it's much
more complicated than that. If you look into this story,
one of the first things you'll find
are the indigenous tribes that are protesting the mine, the Paiute
and Shoshone tribes consider Thacker Pass sacred, A site where their ancestors were massacred on two separate occasions. One being by the U.S. Cavalry in 1865. And they have appealed
and protested at multiple points
throughout the process, even bringing it all the way to the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals, where ultimately it was approved. The mine at Thacker Pass is the first of its kind. It is the only clay based lithium mine in the world. Processing of clay based lithium is unproven or at least untested
at a large scale Currently,
100% of the world's lithium comes from brines
and hard rock. Lithium Americas. The company itself has said the project will be
the first of its kind with respect to lithium extraction
and therefore lithium carbonate production
from clay mineralization. As such, technical challenges
could occur. The technology utilized in this project is not new to mineral, metallurgical and chemical processing. However, it is
being used in a novel way. Hmm. The mine also highlights
the paradox of mining for green energy products, Environmentalists
in general conclude that all mines pollute in one way or another. And many worry
that the mine will affect local wildlife and vegetation
like the pronghorn antelope, golden eagles, sage grouse and a species of snail that could already end up on the endangered species
list. mining, lithium also uses
a lot of water in a region already affected by droughts,
And then there are the localities
like Winnemucca. there's going to be change. Okay. you want to try
to manage the change so you don't lose
your quality of life Construction of the mine
and processing center will require about 2000 workers. 25% of the city's population. It'll be a big boom for our economy, but it'll also be
a big burden on us. water demands
the sewer demand. The man camp is located within the city limits. Lithium Americas has plans to build the lodge
or man camp where the workers will live. And those workers
will certainly flock to local businesses
and restaurants. there will be quote unquote, big city problems that they haven't
experienced before. But then comes the operation of the mine. So we're anticipating 2 to 3000 new residents to our community like every place else in America,
we don't have the housing. We have contractors here
who build houses. And most of them
can maybe put 4 to 6 a year on the ground. that's one of my biggest concerns is housing. Where are they going to live. The Department of Energy
just announced a $2 billion loan
to a company called Redwood Materials Inc in Nevada. And our government
just deemed the University of Nevada, Reno,
as a tech hub, giving it more opportunity for funding and resources. The goal is to create a self-sustaining
lithium loop where the mineral is mined,
processed, manufactured and recycled,
all here in Nevada. We have all the interests that make up a car battery. We have the Tesla Gigafactory Redwood Materials recycling. It's developing, it's happening. Discussions like we had today help close the loop. But, you know,
part of the loop is we need housing, we need training, we need sewer plants, we need schools, things
like that. So that's part of the loop And all of that puts the state front and center
in the country's quest
for a green energy economy. We may have
growth that I don't want. What and what does that mean? That means I'd hate for us to grow to the point where we're like a major city like Reno. I like a small town. This region is well suited to be able to handle this
and to handle it But Thacker Pass is just the beginning. And lithium is only one piece of the puzzle. We're going to need
many more Thacker Passes
along with mines for cobalt, nickel and graphite. If we want to compete on a global scale.
