A huge new mine in southwestern Nevada has just been given the final thumbs up by the US government. While the mine could supply enough lithium to power 50 million electric vehicles, its construction threatens the existence of a rare wildflower, sparking debate about advancing clean energy and the protection of fragile ecosystems.
On October 24, the US Bureau of Land Management gave ultimate approval for Ioneer Ltd, an Australia-based lithium-boron producer, to go ahead with the construction of the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Mine in Esmeralda County, Nevada.
“We have moved quickly to build a robust and sustainable clean energy economy that will create jobs to support families, boost local economies, and help address environmental injustice. The Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine project is essential to advancing the clean energy transition and powering the economy of the future,” Laura Daniel-Davis, Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior, said in a statement.
Lithium is pitched to be an essential metal for the green transition because it’s a key ingredient in the lithium-ion batteries that power smartphones, laptops, and – most crucially – electric vehicles, which will replace gas-guzzling cars.
As the world ever-so-slowly edges away from fossil fuels, global demand for the metal is soaring. Australia, Chile, and China currently dominate the lithium market, but the US is keen to strengthen its domestic supply chains so it doesn’t have to rely on foreign imports.
Tiehm’s buckwheat is a species of flowering plant only found in the Silver Peak Range of Esmeralda County, Nevada
Image credit: Vanessa Barchfield/Center for Biological Diversity
Mining lithium comes with its own environmental and ethical perils, though. Environmentalists have argued that the Rhyolite Ridge Mine would drive the rare wildflower Tiehm’s buckwheat to extinction as the plant is only found within the footprint of the proposed site. They’ve also contended that it could impact the Silver Peak Range, a vital water source for biodiversity and a sacred site to the Western Shoshone people.
The Center for Biological Diversity has previously expressed these concerns, but the federal government has chosen to push through with the plans regardless.
“By greenlighting this mine the Bureau of Land Management is abandoning its duty to protect endangered species like Tiehm’s buckwheat and it’s making a mockery of the Endangered Species Act,” Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.
“We need lithium for the energy transition, but it can’t come with a price tag of extinction,” commented Donnelly.
Other environmental advocates have said that, despite lithium’s necessity, the Bureau of Land Management has bulldozed through Rhyolite Ridge approvals, bypassing the essential checks and balances.
“Given the destructive nature of mining, it is essential that the siting of mining operations be done carefully and judiciously. However, the proposed Rhyolite Ridge mine is following the dangerous pattern set by the Thacker Pass lithium mine of fast and sloppy permitting, rolling back environmental standards, ignoring sound science, and disregarding concerns of directly affected communities – a serious loophole in the Lithium Loop concept,” explained John Hadder, executive director of Great Basin Resource Watch.
