has a lot of lithium,” Culter said.Īsh Meadows, established as a wildlife refuge in 1984, is home to four endangered fish species and eight threatened plant species. “The reality is that the Western part of the U.S. Two other projects - Rhyolite Ridge and Thacker Pass - continue to move closer to starting extraction operations after lengthy court fights with tribal and environmental groups. The Silver State is home to the only currently active lithium mine in the country - Silver Peak in Esmeralda County. But it’s becoming increasingly more valuable as the Biden administration pushes vehicle manufacturers to ramp up electric vehicle production as part of the president’s “clean energy” agenda. Lithium has long been used for rechargeable batteries in cellphones and laptops. Nevada, with its wide swaths of undeveloped land of dried, ancient lake beds, happens to be chock-full of the silvery-white metal at the heart of that transition. “We see the need to fast-track and try to develop the project as soon as possible,” Culter said. Industry research shows that the demand for lithium is likely to outpace global production as more electric vehicles hit the roads in the coming years, he added. He said the ultimate goal is to increase lithium production in Nevada in the supply chain to electric-vehicle manufacturer Tesla, which operates a massive lithium-ion battery manufacturing factory outside of Reno.Ĭulter stressed the need to scale up lithium extraction in North America quickly. The company is still in the “research and data aggregation” phase of the project, he added, and it does not plan to start drilling on the initial 10 holes until late summer or early fall of this year.
Judson Culter, CEO of Rover Metals, said the company has worked in recent months with Bureau of Land Management staff to ensure that the drilling operations won’t disrupt the groundwater table. Rover says it expects each drill hole to hit the groundwater table, and it plans to plug each hole to standards set by the state. Rover Metals plans to drill 10 exploration holes this summer to test for lithium content in the ground, with follow-up drilling on 20 more sites in the area this fall or early next year, according to an exploration notice filed with the Bureau of Land Management in January.Įach drill hole will be 250-300 feet deep.
“If we’re willing to mine this close to the refuge, then it doesn’t seem like we’ll have any limits in terms of where else we’re willing to mine,” he said.
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