A federal judge in Nevada has ruled against conservationists who wanted to stop a lithium-boron mine they said would harm an endangered wildflower. The ruling marks a major legal victory for the 11-square-mile Rhyolite Ridge Lithium/Boron Mine Project in Esmeralda County, located between Reno and Las Vegas, reports the AP. The land holds the largest lithium and boron deposit in the world outside of Turkey, said Bernard Rowe, managing director of Ioneer, the Australia-based company behind the project. US District Judge Cristina Silva ruled Friday that the federal government properly approved the project and sufficiently examined the impacts the project will have on the rare wildflower called Tiehm's buckwheat, whose entire population grows within 10 acres of land in the project area. Environmental groups may appeal.
Lithium is an essential component of electric vehicle batteries. Rhyolite Ridge would be Nevada's third lithium mine, and one of few mines that will process the material on site, Rowe said. "Rhyolite Ridge will create hundreds of new American jobs, reduce reliance on foreign materials and processing, and provide a domestic source of two critical minerals," said Chad Yeftich, VP of external affairs at Ioneer. Ioneer wants construction to start by the end of this year and production in 2029, though it is still looking for a financial partner after a major investor pulled out last year. Sibanye Stillwater said the project did not make financial sense. In January 2025, the Department of Energy finalized a nearly $1 billion loan for the project.
The $2 billion mine would have a life span of over 77 years and would produce enough lithium carbonate for around 400,000 electric vehicles per year, Rowe said. It will also produce boric acid, which is used in pest control, flame retardant, and medical and personal care. Rhyolite Ridge was first approved under the Biden administration as part of the former president's clean energy agenda. The Trump administration has also supported lithium projects in Nevada as a way to bolster US manufacturing of critical minerals.
The Center for Biological Diversity, which has long fought to protect the wildflower and successfully pushed for its endangered species designation in 2022, is not finished in its fight, Great Basin Director Patrick Donnelly said. "This can seem like a little remote flower in the middle of nowhere. But if we lose on Tiehm's buckwheat, you know, what else are we facing with the whittling away of the Endangered Species Act?" Donnelly said. Tiehm's buckwheat is a wildflower a couple inches tall that grows in an area the size of seven football fields in the Silver Peak Range. Silva, a Biden-nominated judge, found Ioneer's mitigation efforts were sufficient for the purposes of the Endangered Species Act. Silva wrote that of the buckwheat's 1.4 square mile of critical habitat, it will lose 4.9% due to the project.
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