Nevada Lithium Mine Advances Amid Conservation Concerns for Rare Wildflower

LAS VEGAS – A federal court in Nevada has dismissed an environmentalists’ bid to halt a lithium-boron mining project over concerns about its impact on an endangered wildflower species.

This legal decision is a significant win for the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium/Boron Mine Project, which spans 11 square miles (approximately 28.5 square kilometers) in Esmeralda County, nestled between Reno and Las Vegas. Bernard Rowe, managing director of the Australian company Ioneer, stated that the site is home to the world’s largest lithium and boron deposits outside of Turkey.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Cristina Silva concluded that federal authorities had correctly sanctioned the project and thoroughly assessed its effects on the Tiehm’s buckwheat. This rare wildflower’s entire population exists within a 10-acre (about 4.05-hectare) section of the project site. The environmental organizations that initiated the lawsuit are considering an appeal.

Lithium, vital for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries, is a key component of this project. Once operational, Rhyolite Ridge will become Nevada’s third lithium mine and notably, one of the few to process materials on-site, as noted by Rowe.

“Rhyolite Ridge will generate hundreds of new jobs in America, lessen dependence on foreign materials and processing, and provide a domestic supply of two essential minerals,” stated Chad Yeftich, Ioneer’s vice president of corporate development and external affairs, in a release.

Growing US manufacturing

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, 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 an 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 Interior Department declined to comment.

Protecting the wildflower

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.

His organization is considering appealing the ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the case could have implications for other species and protected habitats on the Endangered Species Act.

“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. In the spring, the plant produces green leaves and yellow flowers that look like pom-poms. When it blooms, it is the epicenter of a vibrant pollinator community, Donnelly said.

Silva, a Biden-nominated judge, found Ioneer’s mitigation efforts, which include fencing around the habitat and buffer zones between the mining activities and the buckwheat, were sufficient for the purposes of the Endangered Species Act. Silva wrote that of the buckwheat’s 1.4 square mile (3.63 square kilometers) of critical habitat, it will lose 4.9% due to the project.

Donnelly maintains the mining project will increase the risk of the wildflower going extinct, which would affect the ecosystem’s biodiversity. He cast doubt that fencing around the flower’s habitat will protect it.

“There’s been this kind of death by a thousand cuts for Tiehm’s buckwheat,” Donnelly said, adding that if it were to move forward, it would be the “death blow” for the wildflower.