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 monopoly over the supply chain of the precious mineral used in EVs. The mine will be a major supplier for Ford's future EVs.
This is the first time the Biden administration has signed a permit for a lithium mine in the US.
The US government has given Australia-based producer Ioneer a $700 million loan to help build the project, which will quadruple US lithium production when it's completed in 2028. The mine, which is thought to be important in providing a domestic source of the precious mineral, contains enough lithium to power about 370,000 EVs every year.
Ford is one of the first companies to promise to mine lithium for its EV batteries.
Conservationists and Ioneer have fought it for nearly six years over the protection of an endangered flower that grows there, but the government is pushing ahead with the project, which will mine for lithium and boron. The project, it is reported, has undergone several years of environmental impact assessment to assess its effects on local ecosystems and water resources, where Ioneer is exploring ways to reduce environmental impact, including water recycling and responsible mining methods.
“This is a science-based decision,” Laura Daniel-Davis, deputy secretary of the Interior Department, told Reuters. “We are trying to send a message that there is no topic more important than dealing with climate change.”
The US Bureau of Land Management added that the agreement includes “important protections for the area's environment.” And 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 over decades of operation,” the company said.
Construction is scheduled to begin next year, and production will begin in 2028. That timeline should also distinguish Rhyolite Ridge as one of the largest US lithium producers alongside Albemarle and Lithium Americas, Reuters reported. Customers who have agreed to buy lithium from the mine include Ford and a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corps and Panasonic.
Conservationists say, however, that the project will certainly push Tiehm's buckwheat flower into danger, and the Center for Biological Diversity plans to sue the federal government to block the project. The flower, which grows only on limestone substrates in this part of the world, is protected by the Endangered Species Act.
However, US officials, according to Reuters, say they believe the mine will not affect the flower, and that Ioneer has worked to restructure the project to take the flower into account. The conflict began in 2020 when more than 17,000 flowers died near the site of the mine, sparking suspicions of a “planned” attack. Ioneer denied wrongdoing, and the government blamed the squirrels.
Since 2002, only three US mines have come online for precious minerals, it reports The Financial Times. But lithium mining in the US has become a pressing issue as the US looks to use its resources for future EV batteries and break China's grip on supply. For one, the US Geological Survey said it found between 5 and 19 million tons of lithium reserves found in southwest Arkansas, enough to meet the world's 2030 demand for EV battery lithium nine times over.
Read more:
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Arkansas may be sitting on 19 million tons of lithium
Photo: courtesy of Ford/Mustang Mach-E
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