"Lithium mine wins appeal; construction underway", 5 March 2023

A federal appeals court refused March 1 to block construction of the largest lithium mine in the U.S. while it considers claims by Nevada conservationists and tribes that the government illegally approved it in a rush to produce raw materials for electric vehicle batteries.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request for an emergency injunction that would have prevented a subsidiary of Lithium Americas from moving forward with the project near the Oregon line at the third largest known lithium deposit in the world.

Construction was underway March 1, company spokesperson Tim Crowley confirmed in an email to The Associated Press.

Billions of dollars in investments are at stake in the legal battle at the forefront of so-called green energy development...

Lawyers for the mining company and the Biden administration said in court filings Feb. 28 further delay was undermining efforts to combat climate change as the 2-year-old legal battle lingers and demand continues to grow for the key component in batteries for electric vehicles...

“There are no other U.S. alternatives to Thacker Pass to provide lithium at the scale, grade or timeline necessary to begin closing the gap between the lithium available and the lithium needed to achieve the U.S.’s clean energy and transportation goals,” its lawyers wrote...

[The ruling] marked a significant setback for environmentalists and tribes trying to block the project who say they support efforts to replace fossil fuels with renewables but that the mine would destroy essential wildlife habitat and sacred cultural values...

Opponents of Lithium Nevada Corp.’s project had filed an emergency motion with the 9th Circuit on Feb. 27...

“This massive open pit mine has been fast-tracked from start to finish in defiance of environmental laws, all in the name of ‘green energy,’ but its environmental impacts will be permanent and severe,” said Talasi Brooks, a lawyer for the Western Watersheds Project...

Du ruled in Reno on Feb. 6 the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management complied with federal law — with one exception — when it approved plans for the mine in January 2021...

A Nevada rancher filed the first lawsuit in early 2021 seeking to block the 5,000-acre project with an open-pit mine as deep as a football field...