On Thursday, October 24th, the US government approved Australian mining company Ioneer’s “Rhyolite Ridge” lithium mining project in Nevada. According to the company’s projections, the project is expected to significantly increase the domestic supply of lithium, crucial for the transition to renewable energy in the US. It is anticipated that the lithium production in the US could quadruple from current levels.
US government officials in Reno, Nevada, stated that Ioneer’s minerals will help expedite the production of a crucial mineral used in manufacturing electric vehicle batteries.
This move comes as the US government takes a series of actions to support the production of critical minerals, aiming to reduce dependency on China.
A unique aspect of the Nevada lithium project is the inclusion of a chemical processing facility on-site, allowing for lithium processing to take place locally without the need to ship it to China for processing and then back to the US.
Amidst global efforts towards green energy transition, lithium, essential for electric vehicle batteries, has become crucial. It is projected that global demand for lithium will increase sixfold by 2030 compared to 2020. China is the world’s largest producer of lithium and the primary processing location for most lithium, accounting for about two-thirds of global lithium chemical production.
The US Geological Survey has designated lithium as a critical mineral essential for the US economy and national security.
James Calaway, Executive Chairman of Ioneer, stated upon the issuance of the permit by the Bureau of Land Management on Thursday, “There are few deposits in the world as influential as Rhyolite Ridge.”
The company announced that construction of the Rhyolite Ridge mine should commence next year.
Officials further stated that the mine is scheduled to commence production in 2028, with the annual lithium output expected to provide batteries for over 370,000 electric vehicles.
Laura Daniel-Davis, Acting Deputy Secretary of the US Department of the Interior, emphasized that increasing domestic lithium supply is “crucial for driving the clean energy transition and promoting future economic growth.”
The project will extract lithium and boron from a clay-like ore bed. Lithium will be processed into two primary derivatives used in battery manufacturing at the site. Ioneer stated plans to recycle half of the water used in the mining area, exceeding industry average water recycling levels.
A joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic, along with Ford, have agreed to purchase lithium from the mine.
This approval marks the end of a review process that lasted over six years. Throughout this process, regulatory agencies, Ioneer, and conservationists engaged in debates over the fate of a rare wildflower found in the mining area, revealing tension between climate change mitigation efforts and biodiversity protection priorities.
Activists argue that the mine threatens the unique habitat of Tiehm’s Buckwheat, an endangered wildflower with delicate cream-colored blooms found only in this corner of Nevada.
Patrick Donnelly of the nonprofit center Biodiversity Center criticized the Bureau of Land Management for greenlighting the mine, accusing them of abandoning their duty to protect endangered species like Tiehm’s Buckwheat, which he deemed a mockery of the Endangered Species Act.
The Biodiversity Center has indicated plans to sue the federal government to halt the project.
Ioneer has already invested $2.5 million in researching the plant, asserting that mining activities will not impact the species’ survival, and insisting that their experiments show the plant thrives in greenhouse conditions.
(This article references reports from Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, and Reuters.)