The controversial Thacker Pass lithium mine in northern Nevada got what is likely a final green light from the Biden administration’s Interior Department this week, allowing full scale development to proceed in the face of protests by local environmentalists and native tribes.
Local Indian groups have been protesting peacefully at the mine site as an administration decision has been pending, the Reno Gazette Journal reports, including erecting “a roughly 20-foot-tall tipi in the path of a water pipe set to be installed across the property.” The native groups say Thacker Pass was the site of “two Paiute massacres – one prior to colonization as part of an inter-tribal raid, and a second on Sept. 15, 1865, when federal troops massacred up to 50 Paiute in a surprise dawn attack.”
A May 16 opinion from Interior’s Office of the Solicitor concluded that the mine operation must dispose of tailings and wastes from mining only on adjacent land that also contains lithium deposits, under court interpretations of the 1872 Mining Law. In a press release, Interior commented, “The new Opinion acknowledges recent judicial decisions affirming that the Mining Law and the relevant Bureau of Land Management regulations do not allow for approval of those facilities on federal lands where there is no evidence of mineral discovery.”
Interior adds, “The Opinion applies only to the waste rock and tailings facilities at issue in recent opinions, and withdraws previous Solicitor’s Opinions on this topic, determining them to be materially flawed.”
Reuters said an Interior official told the news agency, “Of the dozens of mining claims at the Thacker Pass site held by the company, the government found fewer than 10 did not contain lithium mineralization.” The official told Reuters that developer Vancouver, Canada-based Lithium Americas can apply for rights-of-way for use of the land that does not have evidence of lithium.
The mine near the Oregon border promises to be a major contributor to the key element in the lithium-ion batteries used in the growing fleet of electric vehicles. General Motors in January announced it is investing $650 million with Lithium Americas, which it says can produce enough lithium to support building a million EVs annually.
Lithium Americas has been working on preliminary construction activities with approval of a federal court pending the Interior review. The work has included access roads, construction ponds, and pipelines. The company says it expects commercial production to begin in the second half of 2026. It is also working with the U.S. Department of Energy’s loan program to support up to 75% of the costs of the first phase of the mine development.
Lithium Americas is splitting its U.S. and Argentina operations in order to avoid problems with the DOE loan proposal for Thacker Pass because of the company’s ties to China in its Argentine operations, according to Bloomberg. “If approved by shareholders, the split would effectively distance it from one of its top shareholders, Ganfeng Lithium Group Co., a Chinese producer of the white, silvery metal. Ganfeng partnered with Lithium Americas in 2017 to help advance the project in Argentina.”
“What makes it problematic, optics wise – and optics matter – is when the beneficial owners of those Department of Energy funds are Chinese shareholders.”
Lithium Americas’ John Kanellitsas, executive vice chair, told an investor’s group meeting recently, “What makes it problematic, optics wise – and optics matter – is when the beneficial owners of those Department of Energy funds are Chinese shareholders.
“You can only imagine a press release saying here, ‘Lithium Americas and Ganfeng announce a new joint venture’ – it just would not fly at all, especially given what we’re trying to accomplish here in North America.”
Bloomberg added, “Lithium Americas’ separation, which is expected to close this year, was announced one day after the Canadian government ordered three Chinese companies to divest their stakes in the country’s lithium miners.”
In March, Lithium Americas reported a $93.6 [U.S. dollars] million loss for 2022, or 70 cents/share. That compares to a 2021 loss of $38.5 million, or 32 cents/share.
–Kennedy Maize
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