In a first, US approves massive new lithium mine in Nevada

The US government has approved the construction of a massive new lithium mine on public land in Nevada as part of a strategy to break China’s dominance over the supply chain of critical minerals used in EVs. The mine will be a key supplier to Ford’s future EVs.

This marks the first time the Biden administration has signed a permit for a lithium mine in the US.

The US government has offered Australia-based producer Ioneer a $700 million loan to help build the project, which would quadruple US lithium production when completed in 2028. The mine, which is thought to be vital to providing a domestic source of the critical mineral, contains enough lithium to power roughly 370,000 EVs every year.

Ford is one of first companies to promise to source its lithium for EV batteries from the mine.

Conservationists and Ioneer have battled it out for nearly six years over the protection of an endangered flower growing there, but the government is moving forward with the project, which will mine both lithium and boron. The project, reportedly, has undergone environmental impact assessments to evaluate its effects on local ecosystems and water resources, with Ioneer exploring methods to minimize environmental impacts, including water recycling and responsible mining techniques.

“This is a science-based decision,” Laura Daniel-Davis, the Interior Department’s acting deputy secretary, told Reuters. “We’re trying to send a signal that there’s no topic with greater importance than addressing climate change.”

The US Bureau of Land Management added that the deal includes “significant protections for the local ecosystems.” Plus the rural region, about 225 miles north of Las Vegas in Esmeralda Country, should see the creation of 500 jobs during construction and 350 “high-paying jobs during its decades in operation,” the company said.

Construction is scheduled to start next year, with production beginning by 2028. That timeline should also set Rhyolite Ridge apart as one of the largest US lithium producers alongside Albemarle and Lithium Americas, Reuters reports. Customers that have already agreed to purchase lithium from the mine include Ford and a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corps and Panasonic.

Conservationists say, however, that the project will surely push the endangered Tiehm’s buckwheat flower out of existence, with the Center for Biological Diversity planning to sue the federal government to block the project. The flower, which grows on limestone substrates and only in this exact part of the world, is protected by the Endangered Species Act.

However, US officials, according to Reuters, say that they believe that the mine will not impact the flower, and that Ioneer has worked to reconfigure the project to take the flower into account. Back in 2020, more than 17,000 flowers died near the mine site, sparking allegations of a “premeditated” attack, with Ioneer denying any wrongdoing. The government, according to Reuters, said that squirrels are to blame.

Since 2002, only three US mines have come online for critical minerals, reports The Financial Times. But lithium mining in the US has becoming a hot topic as the US looks to tap into its own resources for future EV batteries and break China’s grip on supply.

Earlier this week, the US Geological Survey said it found between 5 million and 19 million tonnes of lithium reserves located beneath southwestern Arkansas, enough to meet projected 2030 global demand for EV battery lithium nine times over.

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Photo: courtesy of Ford/Mustang Mach-E