The Biden administration this week supported what could end up becoming only the second lithium mine in the US. The Department of Energy said that it would provide mining company Ioneer a conditional loan worth up to $700 million to develop the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project in Nevada’s Esmeralda County, according to a Bloomberg report. The mine is anticipated to produce enough lithium each year to power around 370,000 electric vehicles once it is operational. Although the project is not expected to begin producing lithium until 2026, Ioneer currently has supply agreements with manufacturers including Ford and Toyota.
Through the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program of the Energy Department, the Biden administration made the financing accessible. Ioneer must acquire the necessary permits from pertinent state and federal organizations to secure the money. Due to the dangers the project provides to an endangered Tiehm’s buckwheat species in the area, the Center for Biological Diversity has come out against it. For the same reason, the US Interior Department has not yet approved the proposal. According to the Department of Energy, Ioneer changed its plans for the location to prevent having a direct influence on the facility. But it’s important to remember that mining for lithium uses a lot of water.
Nevertheless, the mineral is crucial to many of the technologies required to move the world toward a future with no emissions. Furthermore, by 2030, it is predicted that the world’s demand for lithium would exceed the supply. The Biden administration will struggle to reach its objective of having half of all cars sold in the US by the end of the decade be electric vehicles due to this gap.
