The world's largest deposit of lithium may have been discovered inside a US supervolcano, helping to boost a mining company's stock price

• The world's largest deposit of lithium may have been found inside an ancient US supervolcano.

• That's according to a study conducted by Lithium Americas, which hypothesizes that the McDermitt Caldera contains 20 to 40 million metric tons of lithium.

• Lithium Americas stock surged more than 7% on Monday after the study was published.

The world's largest deposit of lithium may have just been discovered inside an ancient US supervolcano that was formed about 16 million years ago, according to a recent study.

The potential discovery centers around the McDermitt Caldera on the border of Nevada and Oregon. The new study suggests that there could be 20 million to 40 million metric tons of lithium in a bed of clay that is found throughout the inactive volcano.