“Ionic Mineral Technologies was mining the clay in Utah when it chanced upon what could be the critical mineral equivalent of a gold mine.

Ionic MT had leased the land as part of its business producing nanosilicon for lithium-ion batteries, which are used in electric vehicles. But the company told WSJ Pro Sustainable Business that what it found was a host of other minerals, in what it says may be the most significant critical mineral reserve in the U.S.

Ionic MT said it discovered high grades of 16 different types of minerals, everything from lithium to alumina, germanium, rubidium, cesium, vanadium and niobium at the site in Utah’s Silicon Ridge…

Independent testing shows that the Utah deposit is made up of ‘a halloysite-hosted ion-adsorption clay,’ which essentially means it can be rich in minerals, the same kind of geological formation that supplies a big chunk of China’s rare earth production, the company said…

The company so far has drilled an area covering more than 600 acres to a depth of 100 feet, but there is much more to explore.”

From Wall Street Journal.