Lithium Deposit In Northern Nevada Could Show World ‘Watts Up’

Hold onto your Tesla steering wheels and charge up your iPhone batteries! A jaw-dropping lithium deposit was found along the border of Nevada and Oregon and it might just be the goose laying golden (or should we say, lithium-ion) eggs. This seismic discovery could supercharge the electric vehicle industry.

This underground treasure found in the McDermitt Caldera is estimated to hoard between 20-40 million metric tons of lithium. That would crush the previous world record of 23 million metric tons hiding under a Bolivian salt flat according to the Guardian.

The U.S. has a meager stash of just 1 million metric tons. That's not a lot. However a find of this is magnitude could drastically shake up prices (downward), supply security (improving) and change the geopolitical landscape. Much like oil has played a big role in worldwide political power in the past, lithium will likely be the next oil.

Now, let's talk electric cars. You know those shiny, whisper-quiet, zero-emission beasts? Their manufacturers have been wringing their hands over predicted lithium shortages by 2025. If this comes to fruition, this could push those shortages far into the future.

Adding fuel to this electric fire is President Biden's clean energy game plan, aiming to make EVs half of all new cars by 2030. Let's not forget the proposed $7.5 billion investment in EV charging stations, because what's an electric car without a place to recharge, right?

Lithium Americas Corporation joined forces with Oregon State University for the study. There are hopes that miners could hit the lithium jackpot in the McDermitt Caldera as soon as 2026. But before you start expecting electric car prices to plummet, know it's not all roses. The mining site is smack dab next to Thacker Pass, a contentious area plagued by protests from the native Paiutes tribe and ongoing court battles. Even NASA has expressed concerns about another flat top Nevada site rich in lithium. Why? They use it for calibrating satellites in orbit.

It wouldn't be a precious resource if there wasn't protest.

It should be a recurring theme: the lists Las Vegas and Nevada doesn't want to be on. We are sleep deprived. We don't fund our schools enough.  The lists go on and on. But this one hurts. Nevada has ranked near the bottom of WalletHub's 2023 "Best States" list.

The Silver State ranked 40th, just behind Arizona and just ahead of West Virginia. West. Virginia. We say that with all due respect but... West Virginia?! Where did it all go wrong?

Living in Nevada, you know the state has a lot going for it. Beautiful scenery and plenty of entertainment are certainly high among them. However there are some categories that continually seem to knock us down several pegs.

Have you ever tried to find a doctor in Las Vegas? Did you find one only to find out they are either not accepting new patients or are moving out of state soon?

Nationally, Nevada always finds itself near the bottom of the list in education, although many parents will applaud their child's school as being better than expected. Is it an educator problem or a parenting problem?

Nevada's cost of living has absolutely exploded over the last decade with homes ballooning in value. Incomes have improved in recent years, but not nearly as fast as expenses have shot up. In fact, the study found that Nevada's housing costs are the third highest in the country behind California and Hawaii. What happened?! It should come as no shock that the same study has Nevada 48th in home ownership.

The states surrounding Nevada seem to fair better. Utah ranked 15th on the list. Idaho even better at 8th. While California has an affordability problem, it was good enough to rank near the middle at 24th. Oregon and Arizona ranked 38th and 39th respectively.

Massachusetts took the top spot in WalletHub's study, but it is worth noting everyone's methodology varies a bit. US News And World Report has Nevada as 38th. Still not that hot, but not as bad.

With this pretty brutal report card, we decided to dive into the methodology and see if the rating that Nevada received was fair or foul. Let's see if we can save some Silver State face.

Nevada, especially Southern Nevada, was riding high before the 2008 recession. Crashing home prices made the valley an incredible bargain compared to other parts of the country. But as investors and Californians rolled in, the bargains came to an end.

This category took things like cost of living and median annual property taxes heavily into account. Thankfully Nevada's property taxes are comparatively low to other states. However the cost of living in Nevada has taken a major turn south in recent years.

One of the biggest factors into this score is the median debt to median earnings score. While Nevada once scored fairly decently, the Federal Reserve shows the state has slid into the red. There's just too much debt and not enough income to pay it. Other factors like foreclosure rate and wealth gap play into the score too.

Be honest, you winced a little when you read this category. But... 39th. Higher than you'd expect considering everything you hear (and experience). Two metrics weigh heavily in this metric, and one has to do with weight. The share of obese adults counts for double in their calculations. Nevada fares decent when it comes to obesity (must have been getting rid of the buffets). High school graduation rate is not so hot however. 36th in the nation, and dropping.

Nevada seems to benefit a bit from the methodology. Restaurants per capita counts for double and we tend to feed ourselves and our visitors well. Fitness centers per capita also counts for double and weather for triple. All told, Nevada has a lot going for it here. Is it perfect? No, but it is certainly a livelier and more fun place to live than most.

This one surprised even us. Nevada ranked as decently safe compared to the rest of the country. Things like property crime rate and law enforcement to citizen ratio played heavily into the rating. Thankfully, while Nevada could certainly improve in the crime department, it pales in comparison to several other states who lift Nevada to the better end of the list.