Thacker Pass lithium mine

For the unincorporated community, see Thacker Mines, West Virginia.

Thacker Pass lithium mine
Location
Thacker Pass Lithium is located in Nevada
Thacker Pass Lithium
Thacker Pass Lithium
Nevada
CountryUnited States
Coordinates41°42′30.25″N 118°03′17.12″W / 41.7084028°N 118.0547556°W / 41.7084028; -118.0547556[1]
Production
ProductsLithium
Production66,000 tons per year (projected)[2][3]
Greatest depth400 feet (120 m)[4]
History
OpenedNot yet operational
Owner
CompanyLithium Americas
WebsiteOfficial website

The Thacker Pass lithium mine is a lithium clay mining development project in Humboldt County, Nevada, which is the largest known lithium deposit in the US and one of the largest in the world.[5][6][7] There has been significant exploration of Thacker Pass since 2007. The Bureau of Land Management issued a Record of Decision approving development of the mine in January 2021. Construction began in March 2023 after an emergency appeal was denied by the court.[8] The project site would cover 18,000 acres (7,300 ha), with less than 6,000 acres (2,400 ha) of that being mined,[9][10][11][12] on a site 21 miles (34 km) west-northwest of Orovada, Nevada within the McDermitt Caldera.[4][5][13] The mine is a project of Lithium Nevada, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lithium Americas Corp. In late January 2023, car giant General Motors announced it would invest $650M in the mine project, giving GM exclusive access to the first phase of production.[14][15] In February 2023, when the initial $320 million investment was completed, GM became Lithium Americas largest shareholder and offtake partner.[16][17] At full capacity the mine would produce 66,000 tons annually,[2][4][6] equivalent to 25% of the current (2021) demand for lithium globally, which is expected to triple over the next five years. Development of the mine is driven by increasing demand for lithium used in electric vehicle batteries and grid storage of intermittently generated electricity from sources such as solar power or wind power.[7][3]

The project has met resistance in the form of legal challenges and direct action.[18] While several indigenous tribes with traditional homeland in the area support the project some nearby tribes oppose the project. These opposition tribes have stated that Thacker Pass is a sacred site, a massacre site, and that they were not adequately consulted by the Bureau of Land Management. No BLM study or cultural mining study has found evidence of the massacre site within the mining area or even the extended area. Additionally, opponents of the mine have voiced concerns about rushed environmental review, threats to critical wildlife habitat, disruption of cultural sites. Proponents of the mine have stated that the project is necessary to limit climate change by reducing carbon emissions from American cars, is benign in its social and environmental impact, and will create 300 long-term jobs in rural Nevada, paying an average of $63,000 per year.[2][4] The New York Times reported that controversy around the mine is "emblematic of a fundamental tension" between green energy and damage caused by resource extraction required for those technologies.[2]

  1. ^ Final Environmental Assessment Western Lithium Corporation Kings Valley Clay Mine (PDF) (Technical report). March 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Penn, Ivan; Lipton, Eric (May 6, 2021). "The Lithium Gold Rush: Inside the Race to Power Electric Vehicles". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Flin, Briana (December 2, 2021). "'Like putting a lithium mine on Arlington cemetery': the fight to save sacred land in Nevada". The Guardian. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Malmgren, Evan (September 23, 2021). "The Battle for Thacker Pass". The Nation.
  5. ^ a b Bradley, Dwight C.; Stillings, Lisa L.; Jaskula, Brian W.; Munk, LeeAnn; McCauley, Andrew D. (2017). Lithium, Chapter K of Critical Mineral Resources of the United States—Economic and Environmental Geology and Prospects for Future Supply (PDF) (Report). United States Geological Survey.
  6. ^ a b Sonner, Scott (September 6, 2021). "Judge rejects tribes' efforts to halt digging at Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada". Reno Gazette Journal. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference CNN_2021-12-17 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Sonner, Scott (March 2, 2023). "9th Circuit denies emergency bid to halt Nevada lithium mine at Thacker Pass". KRNV-DT. Associated Press. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  9. ^ Bureau of Land Management (December 4, 2020). Thacker Pass Lithium Mine Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (PDF) (Report). Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  10. ^ Burmeister, Tim. "Thacker Pass lithium project gets national spotlight". Elko Daily Free Press. Retrieved September 7, 2022. The Thacker Pass project boundary encompasses 17,933 acres, but the land disturbance area is 5,694.8 acres.
  11. ^ Lightcap, Seth (December 6, 2021). "Thacker Pass: The Crossroads of Lithium, Wild Snow and Sacred Land". Tahoe Quarterly. p. 1. Retrieved September 7, 2022. The mine site is slated to occupy roughly 18,000 acres, with most of that land used for processing facilities and transportation logistics. Only 5,500 acres will be actively mined over the 46 years.
  12. ^ Bosler, Cayte (November 7, 2021). "Plans To Dig the Biggest Lithium Mine in the US Face Mounting Opposition". Inside Climate News.
  13. ^ "Public Input Sought for Clay Mine". Reno Gazette-Journal. January 2, 2014.
  14. ^ Scheyder, Ernest (January 31, 2023). "GM to help Lithium Americas develop Nevada's Thacker Pass mine". Reuters. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  15. ^ Clifford, Catherine (January 31, 2023). "GM to invest $650 million in a lithium company to support its electric vehicle business". CNBC. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  16. ^ "Lithium Americas Announces Initial Closing of $650 Million Investment from General Motors". Stockhouse. February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  17. ^ "Thacker Pass Overview" (PDF). Lithium Americas. January 30, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  18. ^ Stone, Maddie (March 12, 2021). "The Battle of Thacker Pass". Grist. Retrieved October 23, 2021.