Nevada Division of Environmental Protection has issued final permits for Lithium Nevada Corp. to mine controversial lithium at Northern Nevada’s Thacker Pass.
The proposed mine will be built on 5,700 acres public land located north of Winnemuccanear near the Oregon border.
Greg Lovato, NDEP Administrator, said that the mine is ready for them to begin construction. This allows them to begin construction from NDEPs point of view. It does not account for any other approvals they require from other agencies.
Lithium Nevada’s announcement by NDEP brings it one step closer in moving forward with the mine. However, some permitting is still pending while federal permits already issued for this mine are being contested.
Lithium Nevada is still waiting approval from the state Division of Water Resources for water rights to be transferred from agricultural to mining uses. After Bartell Ranch LLC and King River Land and Cattle Co. LLC challenged the transfer, a hearing was held in December. DWR will review the arguments and make a decision by November 3.
Additionally, environmental groups and indigenous tribes have filed lawsuits against Bureau of Land Management over the permitting of the mine. They claim that the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act as well as the National Historic Preservation Act. The BLM granted its permits early in 2021.
These groups claim that the mine was expedited through the review process, will destroy critical habitat, and infringe upon sacred Native American land.
Lithium Nevada advocates and others argue that the region’s abundant lithium, a naturally occurring metallic, is crucial for the production of everything from cell phone batteries to electric vehicle batteries. This is essential in reducing the nation’s dependence upon fossil fuels and combating global climate change.
Lithium Nevada is now allowed to mine only above water table level thanks to NDEP approval. Lovato stated that mining below the water table would result in the degrading of the region’s water quality.
According to Lovato, the restriction will reduce the mine’s proposed life, which was previously estimated at nearly 50 years. However, Lithium Nevada is allowed to submit a revised proposal for mining below water table. This would go through a thorough review process.
Thacker Pass’s mine is open-pit mining with lithium processing operations. These operations combine ore crushing, acidleaching, and processing methods to make lithium carbonate. This would then be used to produce battery-grade lithium products.
The proposed mine will include an acid plant forleaching. The plant will also generate steam power. The air permit will require the mine to operate a continuous monitoring system for its sulfuric acids plant. Jeff Kinder, Deputy Administrator of NDEP, stated that residents will not experience any degradation in their air quality.
NDEP also required Lithium Nevada that it set aside more $47 million for landscape rejuvenation after the mining has been completed in the area.
Amy Alonzo covers Nevada and Lake Tahoe’s outdoors, recreation, and environment. Contact her at [email protected].Here’s how to support local journalism and coverage.