LAS VEGAS (AP) — A federal judge in Nevada has ruled against conservationists who wanted to stop a lithium-boron mine they said would harm an endangered
FILE - A tiny Tiehm's buckwheat sprouts on Feb. 10, 2020, at a University of Nevada campus greenhouse, in Reno, Nev. LAS VEGAS — 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. 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. U.S. 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 behind the lawsuit say they 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 materials 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,” Chad Yeftich, vice president of corporate development and external affairs at Ioneer, said in a statement.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.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 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.LAS VEGAS — 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. The land WASHINGTON — Fewer American service members died by suicide in 2024, with the number of deaths falling by 11% to 471 from a year earlier, according to a Pentagon report released Tuesday. The rate of suicides per 100,000 service members also dropped that year compared to 2023, the report said. The decrease emerged under WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump entered his war of choice against Iran without consulting global allies, but as he weighs an exit from the conflict, he is making it clear that he is expecting the world to help him fix the unintended damage that it has caused. Trump is taking an increasingly annoyed tone A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s effort to dramatically change the criteria to get tens of millions of dollars in funding to aid homeless people was unlawful. Several nonprofits filed a lawsuit last year accusing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of changing the rules for WASHINGTON — Thousands of additional U.S. troops are heading to the Middle East as the Trump administration has insisted that progress has been made in talks with Iran and has threatened to escalate the war if a deal is not reached soon. The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush deployed Tuesday and is slated DENVER — A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit accusing Colorado and Denver of interfering with the enforcement of immigration laws. The lawsuit claimed the state and its most populous city passed “sanctuary laws” violating the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. At issue were four state laws WSECU Community Champion: Chrystal Ortega’s mission to feed Spokane Chrystal Ortega's tireless dedication recently earned her the WSECU Community Champions Award and a $1,000 grant to further the mission.When Shawn Tibbitts opened Tibbitts FernHill, he was just trying to survive. The small Tacoma restaurant has since earned culinary awards and praise.Wilcox Family Farms is continuing its cherished holiday tradition of giving back by donating nearly one million eggs to food banks across the South Sound region this season.Matthew Ballantyne has transformed that early awareness into action, embodying the organization's mission:"No Kid Sleeps On The Floor In Our Town."
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