Thacker Pass Lithium Mine

Thacker Pass Lithium Mine

Location
Thacker Pass Lithium
Nevada
Country	United States
Coordinates	41°42′30″N 118°03′43″W / 41.70833°N 118.06194°W / 41.70833; -118.06194[1]
Production
Products	Lithium
History
Opened	not yet operational
Owner
Company	Lithium Americas Corp.
Website	Official website

The Thacker Pass Lithium Mine is a proposed lithium clay mining development project in Humboldt County, Nevada. The project is 21 miles (34 km) west-northwest of Orovada, Nevada within the McDermitt Caldera,^[2][3] and overlaps with 2,866 acres (1,160 ha) of big sagebrush habitat, as well as golden eagle breeding sites.^[4]

Context[]

Thacker Pass is the traditional homeland of several related Indigenous nations, including the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation, the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe, Lovelock Paiute Tribe, Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony.^[5]

Thacker Pass is called Peehee mu'huh in the Paiute language, meaning 'rotten moon'. This name derives from a massacre that occurred at this location between 1865 and 1889 when a band of Paiute families were killed; their rotting remains were strewn about the moon-shaped Pass and discovered by surviving members of the band during a full moon.^[6][7] Members of the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe have stated that their tribe, "descends from essentially two families who, hiding in Thacker Pass, managed to avoid being sent to reservations farther away from our ancestral lands" and hence that this tribe owes its existence to the shelter provided by the Pass.^[8]

Bill Haywood's 1929 autobiography discusses a massacre that occurred at Thacker Pass.^[9] Haywood states that he was told by Jim Sackett, a pensioner who participated in the massacre, that indigenous men, women and children were killed. One indigenous man escaped on horseback. Two infant children also survived and were raised by Charley Thacker. Haywood states that he met the two survivors, named Charley and Jimmy Thacker, who had grown to "fine stalwart men" that had "gone back to the nomadic life." Haywood also states that he met Ox Sam, who stated that he was the one who escaped on horseback.

Resources[]

The Thacker Pass area has been disturbed by lithium mining exploration activities since 2007,^[10] including excavation of bulk material in an open pit and drill core sampling. The Thacker Pass lithium deposit, previously called the Kings Valley lithium deposit,^[11][12] has Proven and Probable Reserves of 179 million tonnes of lithium ore grading 0.33% lithium, being 3.14 million tonnes of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE).^[13][14] As of 2017, the Thacker Pass hectorite deposit was the most significant lithium-clay resource discovered in the U.S.^[2] Unlike more conventional brine mining, hectorite clay requires sulfuric acid treatment to separate lithium salts from associated minerals.^{[citation needed]}

Initial project approval[]

In August 2019, Lithium Americas lodged a Plan of Operations for its proposed lithium clay mining development project with the Bureau of Land Management, the federal mining regulator.^[15] In January 2020, the company announced the publication of a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Thacker Pass lithium project.^[16] On January 15, 2021, BLM issued their Record of Decision approving the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine.^[17] Opponents of the mine claim the environmental review was rushed, because what is normally a multi-year review process was completed in less than a year.^[5] During the permitting process for the proposed Thacker Pass lithium mine in 2020, the Bureau of Land Management consultation with the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe, the Summit Lake Paiute tribe, and the Western Winnemucca Indian Colony resulted in no issue concerning historic property within areas of potential disturbance.^[18] Other tribes were not consulted during the review process, leading the Burns Paiute Tribe and the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony to intervene in a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management and Lithium Nevada Corporation in July 2021.^[19][20][21]

Legal challenges[]

In early February, 2021, a local rancher filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management over concerns about the project's water use.^[22] On February 26, 2021, four environmental non-profits (Western Watersheds Project, Great Basin Resource Watch, Basin and Range Watch, and Wildlands Defense) also filed a lawsuit challenging the BLM's permitting of the project, claiming threats to sage grouse habitat, old growth sagebrush, golden eagle nests, endemic springsnails, and Endangered Species Act–listed Lahontan cutthroat trout, bighorn sheep, and pygmy rabbits.^[23][24] These opponents of the mine have claimed that the review process was rushed and that the public input process was questionable.^[25][22]

Regional indigenous tribes have intervened in the lawsuits against the Bureau of Land Management and Lithium Nevada Corporation. Reno-Sparks Indian Colony requested that the Bureau of Land Management consult them about the mine, stating in a letter that, "Just because regional tribes have been isolated and forced onto reservations relatively far away from Thacker Pass does not mean these regional tribes do not possess cultural connections to the Pass."^[5] When the BLM rejected this request for consultation, Reno Sparks Indian Colony, Burns Paiute Tribe, and a committee of Fort McDermitt Tribal members intervened in the lawsuits.^[20][19][26]

The Fort McDermitt Tribal Council, who had been consulted during the review process, initially had a project engagement agreement with Lithium Americas but the council responded to a petition from tribal members by voting unanimously to withdraw from that agreement and to sue the Bureau of Land Management for violations of the National Historic Preservation Act in allowing the project to proceed.^[27][28]

In July, 2021 a federal judge ruled that Lithium America may excavate archaeological trenches at the site as the environmental groups could not prove what specific damage would be caused by the digging.^[29] The digging will be less than 1/4 acre and will be used to determine whether the area is historically important to regional indigenous tribes.^[30] The judge also refused to grant three tribes' request for a preliminary injunction to stop the trenching as while she found the spiritual distress persuasive, they did not show sufficiently specific irreparable harm.^[31] The digging will require an Archeological Resources Protection Act permit from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management permit.^[32]

The judge intends to rule on the overall case in early 2022.^[29]

Protests[]

Protestors began occupying the site on the day the Record of Decision was issued (January 15, 2021).^[33][34] Members of several regional indigenous tribes have protested the mine, citing threats to land, water, wildlife, hunting and gathering areas, and sacred sites.^[27][35]

Protesters occupying the site of the proposed mine have concerns about the lack of free, prior, and informed indigenous consent for the project, environmental degradation, human rights violations, and greenwashing of the project.^[36][37]

On April 10, 2021, Over 60 people from different reservations in the region came to Thacker Pass to demonstrate their opposition to the mine by praying, dancing, and sharing food with local people and protesters occupying the site. Indigenous people attending that event said there were sacred sites in the area including burials and also a massacre site from which the location derives its name in the Paiute language. They also demonstrated concerns about public health, water quality, air quality, and lack of indigenous consent for the project.^[35]

In May, 2021, a group of Ft McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone tribal members calling themselves People of Red Mountain petitioned the United States Department of the Interior and others to halt construction of the lithium mine at Thacker Pass. Their petition states that Thacker Pass is a massacre site, contains ancestral burials, is sacred to their people, and is "essential to the survival of our traditions."^{[citation needed][8]} The judge ruled that group was not a federally recognized tribe so it has no legal standing.^[31]

On June 12, 2021 hundreds of people attended a rally in Reno, NV to protest the Thacker Pass lithium mine.^[38]

Responses[]

The New York Times reported that, "the fight over the Nevada mine is emblematic of a fundamental tension surfacing around the world: Electric cars and renewable energy may not be as green as they appear".^[39]

Lithium America's CEO Alexi Zawadzki has criticized the protests and reassured concerns about environmental impact. He argued that exploitation of the Thacker Pass lithium deposit would support President Biden’s economic security goals, provide jobs, and help the U.S. reach greenhouse gas emission targets.^[40]

Glenn C. Miller, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada Reno wrote "The proposed Thacker Pass mine will be relatively benign in comparison to other large mines in Nevada, primarily gold and copper mines." Miller also stated that no mining below the groundwater level will occur for the first 20 years, though later mining may go below that level. Miller states that there should be an on-going discussion about how the project would change the character of the valley. Miller closes with "The Thacker Pass mine is an important mitigation measure to slowing the U.S. contribution to climate change."^[41]

References[]