Lithium Mining Around Death Valley

[Desert Fog]

In the last forum we left off with a discussion about a lithium project in Panamint Valley. The thread  centered around the May 7, 2019, Los Angeles Times article “A war is brewing over lithium mining at the edge of Death Valley.” That article also appeared on the Seattle Times here…

A war is brewing over lithium mining at the edge of Death Valley

And a PDF copy of the article can be seen here…

PDF - A war is brewing over lithium mining at the edge of Death Valley

I was aware of other lithium projects on the east side of Death Valley by Death Valley Junction as well as north of Death Valley around Silver Peak, Nevada. So, I set out to look to see how many lithium projects were planned for the area around Death Valley. As with most of my projects, this one quickly spiraled out of control and went down several different rabbit holes.

The Panamint Valley lithium project is by Australian-based Battery Mineral Resources (BMR) and their webpage on the project is here…

BMR Panamint Valley Project

BMR also holds lithium claims in Amargosa Valley…

BMR Amargosa Valley

and Franklin Wells north of Death Valley Junction…

BMR Franklin Wells

The only BMR claim in the exploration phase is the one in Panamint Valley. I wrote up a detailed page on BMR’s Panamint Valley project that is current to July 27, 2020, and that can be found here…

BMR Panamint Valley Report

For this project I looked for lithium mining activity throughout the Great Basin and Mojave deserts. There is activity as far north as the Nevada and Oregon border and as far south at the Salton Sea. Most of the sites are in Nevada, followed by California and one site in the Mojave Desert area of Arizona.

Many of the sites are in the exploration stage with some sites being more advanced than others having completed field testing and technical reports. Other site owners just have mining claims and a website.

Albemarle operates the only lithium production site in North America in Silver Peak, Nevada. Rio Tinto is testing a pilot lithium processing plant using waste rock at their borax mine in Boron, California. I located close to 40 exploration sites throughout the Great Basin and Mojave area and that list is current up to Aug. 13, 2020.

The homepage of the project can be found here…

Lithium Mining in the Mojave and Great Basin Deserts

You can use the map on the main page to see what lithium activity is planned for the Death Valley area.

Good examples of what the eventual build out of a lithium site may look like can be seen with Lithium Americas Thacker Pass and the Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge projects.

The Thacker Pass project, north of Winnemucca, Nevada, appears to be very promising and is in its final permitting stage.

Lithium Americas Thacker Pass Project

Ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge project west of Silver Peak is also in its final permitting stage but the company  hasn’t announced a strategic partner and has an issue with a potential rare wildflower found only in the location where the open pit mine is planned to go.

Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge Project

Enjoy the information!

[MojaveGeek]

A lot here, good reporting as always, Jack!

[DAW89446]

A lot here, good reporting as always, Jack!

Years of practice writing reports when he was Detective Fog ... 

[Desert Fog]

Well things have certainly turned interesting and require clarification.

In the post about lithium mining around Death Valley I used the Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge project as a "good" example of what a fully built out lithium operation could look like.

Turns out that with new events, the Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge project is anything but a good example of land stewardship.  The investigation is ongoing, but it certainly does not look good.

You can read about the update here...

Sept. 18, 2020 Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge Project Update

[Desert Fog]

In the continuing and highly unusual and concerning unfolding events about the damage to the endangered Tiehm’s buckwheat population at the proposed site of the Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine in Nevada north of Death Valley, the issue has now attracted the attention of Deep Green Resistance.

Deep Green Resistance (DGR) describes themselves as “a radical environmental movement dedicated to stopping the murder of the planet. Our allegiance is to the land. We reject false technological “solutions” and recognize that industrial civilization is incompatible with life on this planet.”

Max Wilbert with DGR posted this video of his visit to the site…

Lithium Wars #3: Tiehm's Buckwheat and the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium Mine

Deep Green Resistance

[DeathValleyDazed]

Thanks for link, I left a comment there.

[Candace66]

Interesting stuff.

DGR is a bit late on the scene, though, considering the scale of the lithium mining mess in the Clayton Valley.

But the virtuous EV drivers act like their vehicles were plucked from a vine or something.  As opposed to being manufactured by industrial processes with all that entails.

[Desert Fog]

I agree and he came all the way down from the Pacific Northwest for their project.

With the acid and sulphur needed to process the lithium on site it doesn't seem very clean or green. 

One lithium industry observer I have been following made this comment "Ioneer's resource for lithium is absolutely atrocious for grade @ 1,600 ppm. Perhaps the boric acid gets the economics right, but why would anyone endanger a plant for a dubious resource for presumed lithium clients?"

[Desert Fog]

New lithium mining activity in Panamint Valley.

March 19, 2021 American Battery Metals Corporation filed 16 new mining claims, Pan 1 through Pan 16, with Inyo County.  These claims are located in Panamint Valley less than half a mile southwest of Ballarat.

PDF download file Pan 1 Claim and Location Map

American Battery Metals also owns land and holds 647 lithium mining claims over 12,940 acres in Railroad Valley by Currant, Nevada.  The company is also building a lithium battery recycling plant in Fernley, Nevada.

American Battery Metals Corporation

The new American Battery Metals Corporation claims in Panamint Valley are separate from the claims now being worked by Battery Mineral Resources in other locations in Panamint Valley.