Feds approve Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine in Nevada • Nevada Current

Federal land managers gave final approval Thursday for a massive lithium-boron mine in southern Nevada, becoming the first domestic lithium project to win full regulatory approval under the Biden Administration.

Approval of the Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project in Esmeralda County comes after four years of federal permitting and environmental review process. During that time, the project also attracted fierce opposition from conservation groups who opposed the mine’s encroachment on critical habitat reserved for the only known population of the endangered wildflower, Tiehm’s buckwheat.

One hour after the federal decision was released, the Center for Biological Diversity sent the U.S. federal government a 60-day notice of its intention to file a lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act. .

“You can expect to hear more from us with new actions in the coming days,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Once built, the massive 7,000-acre project would operate for 23 years and extract enough lithium from Nevada public lands to power nearly 370,000 electric vehicles each year.

The mine would also create a 66-acre quarry (a deep open pit characteristic of mines and where lithium would be extracted) and directly disturb about 191 acres of critical habitat. In total, the mine would result in the elimination of more than 2,000 acres of nesting sites and foraging habitat for several species.

Although the project area encompasses the only known populations and critical habitat of the threatened plant, the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the final mine plan would likely not jeopardize the survival of buckwheat. of Tiehm nor would it negatively modify its critical habitat, if combined with conservation. measures outlined by Ioneer.

Federal land managers said Australia-based Ioneer, the company behind the project, has developed protections for the wildflower as part of its plan, including redesigning and relocating project features, funding the work of propagation of Tiehm’s buckwheat and the development of a formal Tiehm’s buckwheat protection plan.

“This project and the process we have undertaken demonstrate that we can pursue the responsible development of critical minerals here in the United States, while protecting the health of our public lands and resources,” said Acting Assistant Secretary of the Interior Laura Daniel- Davis.

Ioneer CEO Bernard Rowe argued that the mining company made several concessions to finalize the mining plan, including relocating much of the project’s infrastructure from critical wildflower habitat, moving waste storage away from culturally sensitive sites and a commitment to conserving water and dust. , noise and light monitoring.

Lithium extraction requires enormous amounts of water. Ioneer plans to source water from Esmeralda County’s Fish Lake Valley, an overappropriated basin. Groundwater in Nevada is not well understood due to the complexity of the region’s aquifers, but over the past 50 years agriculture has reduced groundwater in the Fish Lake Valley by as much as 200 feet in some areas.

Federal land managers estimate mining could reduce groundwater in the valley by up to 300 feet around the quarry and cause surrounding soil to sink up to 10 inches, according to the project. final environmental review.

Approval of the project is part of the Biden administration’s efforts to boost domestic production of lithium, a mineral critical for electric vehicle batteries. The Biden administration, which has committed to decarbonizing the US power grid by 2035.

Rowe said the mine approval is “a milestone for the company,” adding that Rhyolite Ridge “is a very special mineral deposit” that is critical to domestic lithium production.

“There’s no other like it in the world,” Rowe said. “There is no other mine anywhere in the world that produces lithium and boron on a significant scale. So this is a one-of-a-kind type of deposit and comes with huge advantages.”

Rhyolite Ridge is the only known lithium boron deposit in North America and one of only two such deposits known in the world.

There is currently only one producing lithium mine in the United States, Albemarle’s Silverpeak Mine in Esmeralda County. That mine produces about 5,000 tons of lithium carbonate a year, although Albemarle recently announced that it hopes to double that production by 2025.

Construction of the Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project could begin next year, while production would begin in 2028, according to Ioneer’s scheduling estimates.

Construction of the mine will require a workforce of 500 people for four years, and a workforce of 350 people to work on extraction and processing for 14 years. Ioneer expects the mine to generate approximately $125 million in wages annually over its life.

The project has already obtained financing. In 2021, the mine obtained partial financing from South African mining company Sibanye-Stillwater Limited, a metals processing and mining company, under a purchase agreement. Last year, Ioneer also received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Loan Programs for up to $700 million of debt financing.