NEVADA'S CRITICAL METAL AND MINERAL POTENTIAL; NOT JUST THE SILVER STATE

Although Nevada is known as the Silver State, principally referring to the 1859 Comstock Lode discovery and the subsequent boom in mining prior to statehood in 1864, the minerals industry of the state has been dominated by gold since the early 1980s. However, although gold is likely to be an important part of the Nevada mining sector for decades to come, a range of other commodities are likely to become crucial parts of the Nevadan minerals industry and represent potentially secure sources of metals and minerals considered critical by the U.S. Government. These include lithium clay and brine resources in central and northern Nevada, including producing brine operations at Silver Peak, and continued barite production from deposits in northern and eastern Nevada. Exploration and development activities for other critical metals within the state include projects focused on magnesium, nickel and cobalt, the rare earth elements, tin and tungsten. A number of past-producing polymetallic skarn and carbonate replacement systems are known in the state, with significant potential for future production of zinc as well as non-critical lead and silver. Three projects within Nevada also have currently defined vanadium resources, with total publicly reported resources of 603,130,000 lbs contained V₂O₅. The mineral systems within Nevada also contain significant but yet significantly under-realized co- and by-product critical metal and mineral potential, including systems known to contain antimony, gallium, indium and tellurium, although a fuller examination of these mineral systems is needed to fully understand the overall potential of active and future mining operations. The metal and mineral potential of the waste material generated by the more than a century’s worth of mining, processing, smelting and refining activity within Nevada also remains generally unquantified. This presentation will provide an overview of the critical metal and mineral potential of the Silver State and will outline the steps and key knowledge needed to more fully realize this potential.