This map was created by a user. According to Zawadzki, however, the Thacker Pass project will recycle nearly all water with the exception of water used for dust mitigation, moisture in the tailings (which will be pressed to remove water), and water used for evaporative cooling. Clear sky, cool, wind was calm, beautiful up top this discovery. The project would involve expanding the plan boundary to approximately 18,000 acres, with an ultimate disturbance footprint of approximately 5,700 acres. Lithium Americas is a Canadian-based company listed on both the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol LAC. Brian Bahouth is the editor of the Sierra Nevada Ally and a career public media journalist. Previous reporting on the Thacker Pass project: Thacker Pass Lithium Mine – Draft Environmental Impact Statement reaction, Lithium Nevada is on schedule to begin Thacker Pass construction in 2021, a carbon neutral mine, Lithium exploration science and mining – leading research has one foot in Nevada, the other in Argentina, Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone Tribe work flinty soil – sustainable economic development elusive in remote region of Nevada. Proposal to sell land at Anaconda Mine Site prompts concern, Real Estate development corporations bankrolled race for Reno’s Ward 1, Weeks after the “Save Our Stages Act” passed, details emerge for local shuttered venue operators, Nevada’s illegal sex industry is the nation’s largest and a hub for sex trafficking. Double Scoop – Arts in Nevada Hear a 2019 audio interview with Alexi Zawadzki, president of North America operations for Lithium Nevada. The next administration is likely to take a different approach to federal lands. The Ally is working to gather further reaction to the mine’s approval. The project would include 5,700 acres of public lands within the project area approximately 17 miles northwest of Orovada and 53 miles north-northwest of Winnemucca in Humboldt County. GOED stated that Lithium Nevada Corp. is currently designing and permitting for the chemical manufacturing of high purity lithium chemicals as a byproduct of mineral processing in Thacker Pass in northern Humboldt County. The pre-feasibility study was completed August 2018, which proposed the two-phase mine development using open-pit methods. Globe Newswire also published an article about the announcement. The operation would use 850 million gallons of water annually and 26,000 gallons of diesel fuel per day. The ROD selects “Alternative A” from the EIS, which is Lithium Nevada’s preferred alternative. We are Will Falk and Max Wilbert and we are here in Thacker Pass, in the Great Basin of Nevada, to protect this incredible place from a massive new lithium mine. “It (the mine area) contains thousands of acres of priority habitat management area (PHMA), the most important type of greater sage-grouse habitat, yet BLM has exempted the mine from many legally required sage-grouse protections. Thacker Pass is the site of a proposed lithium mine that would impact nearly 5700 acres—close to nine square miles—and which would include a giant open pit mine over two square miles in size, a sulfuric acid processing plant, and piles of tailings. The Direct and Indirect APEs cover public and private lands in Thacker Pass and Kings River Valley between the Western Energy Development Corporation, a Nevada corporation, leased the claims in 2005 and was given access to the Chevron data and core samples that were available. Lithium Wars #5: Protect Thacker Pass occupation. Lithium Wars #5: Protect Thacker Pass occupation توضیح: Last Friday, a group of activists including myself launched an occupation of a proposed mine in northern Nevada. The results of the assay analysis indicated the presence of an anomalously high-grade lithium deposit. Aug. 30, 2019, Mining Technology reported that the Thacker Pass lithium project was one of the “Top ten biggest lithium mines in the world.” The article stated that mine is estimated to contain proven and probable reserves of 179.4Mt containing 3.1Mt of lithium carbonate equivalent and has an estimated mine life of 46 years. Thacker Pass is 100% owned by Lithium Nevada Corp. (“Lithium Nevada”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lithium Americas. The caldera at Thacker Pass was formed from an inland lake about 15 million years ago, which is when it collected the lithium that the mining company wants to strip mine. In order to fulfill the objectives of processing ore using sulfuric acid and generating electric power, a sulfuric acid plant will be built on-site so that lithium can be leached, or dissolved, from the extracted ore during mining operations and the heat generated through the creation of sulfuric acid will be used to generate electricity. In the ROD, the BLM concluded the mine will pose no significant impact. The project would include 5,700 acres of public lands within the project area located approximately 17 miles northwest of Orovada and 53 miles north-northwest of … The results indicated a larger lithium deposit than was previously identified. On February 5 of 2020, the BLM published a Notice of Intent to Prepare a Draft Environmental Statement (DEIS) for the mine. The current exploration plan boundary encompasses approximately 3,550 acres. Cyprus Gold Exploration Corporation allowed the claims to lapse and provided much of the exploration data to one of the prior claim owners. Education Writers Association “Alternative A is not anticipated to affect any threatened or endangered species or significant scientific, cultural or historical resources, as these resources are either not present or the effects will be mitigated.”, In reaction to the mine’s approval, Kelly Fuller, energy and mining campaign director for the Western Watersheds Project says the mine “will strip-mine thousands of acres of important habitat for greater sage-grouse and other wildlife.”, “It could also push a wildlife species that has not been found anywhere else on Earth to extinction,” wrote Fuller in a press release. To date, over 20 tons of ore have been processed at the facility, generating essential data to be used for engineering and design of the full-scale plant. The proposed Project area would include a total of approximately 18,195 acres (Mine and Reclamation Plan of Operations [PoO] boundary of 10,468 acres; Exploration PoO boundary of 7,727 acres) with an estimated total disturbance footprint of approximately 5,695 acres (Mine and … Running the backroads. Society of Environmental Journalists The Western Watersheds Project asserts that the Thacker Pass mine directly threatens the greater sage-grouse and other birds that rely on sagebrush, golden eagles and other raptors, Lahontan cutthroat trout, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, pygmy rabbits, and the Kings River pyrg. “The biodiversity crisis is every bit as dire as the climate crisis, and sacrificing biodiversity in the name of climate change makes no scientific or moral sense,” said Fuller. Winnemucca, NV 89445 Fax: 775-623-1503 Email: blm_nv_wdo_thacker_pass@blm.gov Final EIS Availability Period Ends: January 5, 2021 ABSTRACT Through a subsidiary company, Lithium Americas Corporation does operate a hectorite clay mine on the property that produces hectorite clays for industrial purposes. Investigative Reporters and Editors 450 Sinclair St. Reno, NV 89501, The Institute for Nonprofit News Local springs are the only place in the world where the Kings River pyrg, a rare type of springsnail, are known to live. They have the guts to call this green... when it is devastation and Ecocide. Humans can’t keep destroying important wildlife habitat and still avoid ecosystem collapse.”. If the Thacker Pass Lithium Project moves forward, approximately 1,000 contractors could be employed during construction with 300 remaining to facilitate operations. This mine would destroy 5000 acres of the McDermitt Caldera, a large caldera in northern Nevada. Lithium Americas Thacker Pass on Google Maps, (Please notify author on the website contact page for errors, omissions or suggestions. This is sacred land and we aim to defend Mother Earth. “Thacker Pass is a quintessential representation of the Great Basin’s specific beauty. The Bureau of Land Management published a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement to analyze the proposed Thacker Pass Lithium Mine project in the Federal Register Jan. 21, 2020. Over the past four years, at least 10 million acres have been leased to oil and drilling companies, turning formerly pristine forests and mountain-scapes into spreads of cratered, barren land laden with heavy machinery. Executive Order 13817 is dated December 20, 2017 and gives the Department of the Interior, in consort with the Department of Defense and other related agencies, the directive to create a list of critical minerals. 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