The cost of green energy: The nation’s biggest lithium mine may be going up on a site sacred to Native Americans

The huge project on public land, approved by the Trump administration in its final days, has sparked an outcry and a lawsuit, but opposition among Native Americans is not unanimous.

Shahrzad Elghanayan; Dan Koeck / NBC News; Getty Images

Shahrzad Elghanayan; Dan Koeck / NBC News; Getty Images

By Chloe Atkins and Christine Romo
Aug. 11, 2022

Thacker Pass, a remote valley in the high desert of northern Nevada, will always be sacred for Gary McKinney of the Paiute-Shoshone Tribe. He often visits to honor ancestors said to be killed here by U.S. soldiers in 1865. 

“It’s been a gathering place for our people,” said McKinney, who lives on the Duck Valley Reservation, 100 miles to the east.

McKinney and others are now fighting a new battle over an open-pit mine planned for Thacker Pass, which sits atop a massive lode of lithium.

Gary McKinney of the Paiute-Shoshone Tribe often visits Thacker Pass to honor ancestors said to be killed here by U.S. soldiers in 1865. (Alejandra Rubio for NBC News)

Gary McKinney of the Paiute-Shoshone Tribe often visits Thacker Pass to honor ancestors said to be killed here by U.S. soldiers in 1865. (Alejandra Rubio for NBC News)

Driven by soaring demand for lithium, which is vital to electric car batteries and renewable energy, a company called Lithium Americas hopes to break ground this year on the biggest lithium mine in the U.S. The huge project on public land, approved by the Trump administration in its final days, has sparked an outcry and a lawsuit from some area Native American groups, environmental activists and a rancher. There are also questions about whether the federal government fulfilled its obligation to seek input from Native American groups before the project, and a difference of opinion within those groups over the site’s importance and the mine’s desirability. Opposition to the project among local Native Americans is not unanimous.

Industry experts expect demand for lithium from U.S. car manufacturers to increase tenfold by 2030. By then, they predict the U.S. will need 300,000 metric tons of lithium per year to make green vehicles and a wealth of electronic appliances. Currently, however, the U.S. has just one active lithium mine. Earlier this year, the Energy Department authorized $2.9 billion to boost battery production and President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to encourage U.S. production of lithium and other minerals like nickel and cobalt used in batteries and solar panels.

“We need to end our long-term reliance on China and other countries for inputs that will power the future,” Biden said. “And I’ll use every tool I have to make that happen.”

Jonathan Evans, CEO and president of Lithium Americas, said that when the Thacker Pass mine is fully operational it will produce 80,000 tons of lithium carbonate yearly, enough to power 1.5 million electric cars and meet a fifth of the nation’s needs by 2030. 

“It’s one of the largest lithium deposits in the world,” said Evans. “You’re looking at a project that’s going to be in operation for more than 50 years or longer. … It’s a multigenerational asset for our country.”

Jonathan Evans, CEO and president of Lithium Americas, holds the clay mixture from which lithium will be extracted in Reno, Nev. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Jonathan Evans, CEO and president of Lithium Americas, holds the clay mixture from which lithium will be extracted in Reno, Nev. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

But environmentalists note that it would create hundreds of millions of cubic yards of rock waste, and that next to the pit would be an “acid plant” using sulfuric acid — 5,800 tons daily — to process lithium. According to an environmental impact statement from the federal Bureau of Land Management, the mine would be an open pit 2.3 miles long, a mile wide and almost 400 feet deep, covering an area slightly larger than New York’s Central Park. 

Thacker Pass, a remote valley in the high desert of northern Nevada, sits atop a massive lode of lithium. (Alejandra Rubio for NBC News)

Many in the Indigenous community, meanwhile, think the push for “green” energy can have a spiritual cost. 

In the U.S., most critical mineral sites containing cobalt, copper, lithium and nickel are within 35 miles of Native American reservations, according to a study by Morgan Stanley Capital International, which examined over 5,000 mining properties. The Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe's land is less than 25 miles as the crow flies from Thacker Pass.

“All of these lands are important to the Indigenous people of any region,” said Daranda Hinkey, a member of the Fort McDermitt tribe and a tribal subgroup called People of Red Mountain. 

“All of these lands are important to the Indigenous people of any region,” said Daranda Hinkey. (Alejandra Rubio for NBC News)

“All of these lands are important to the Indigenous people of any region,” said Daranda Hinkey. (Alejandra Rubio for NBC News)

“The reality,” said McKinney, standing at the site amid old-growth sagebrush, “is that once this whole thing behind me goes and there’s a big hole there, everything leaves with it.”

‘Sacred locations’

From 1975 to 1987, Chevron USA began exploring the McDermitt Caldera in Thacker Pass, the crater of a dead volcano, in search of uranium. It found lithium

A decade ago, with demand for lithium rising, Lithium Americas launched its own research on the site and started taking the needed steps for federal and state approval of a mine on public land. It says it also began outreach to the local community, assuring residents of northern Nevada it would be a good environmental steward while providing 1,000 jobs during construction and then 300 full-time jobs at the mine itself.

Asked about its contacts with Native American groups during the period the mine project was in development, Lithium Americas provided a list of dozens of meetings with local groups that included four separate in-person meetings with the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe between 2017 and 2020. No specific meetings with any other Native American groups are listed, though there are three events noted in Winnemucca, more than 50 miles from the mine site, where the Winnemucca Indian Colony is located.

In a statement, a Lithium Americas spokesperson said, "The benefits of our project, in particular jobs and economic development, will and should be felt in those communities, and we’ve remained committed to answering any inquiries about our development."

Part of the approval process was getting the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, which owns the property, to conduct an environmental impact assessment. In addition to projecting the effects of the mine on air, water and soil, the bureau is required by federal law to ask nearby Native American groups about any potential risk to “significant religious, spiritual or sacred locations.”

In December 2019, the BLM sent letters to the leaders of the Fort McDermitt Tribe, the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe, and the Winnemucca Indian Colony asking for any concerns about impact to sacred sites. The letters were certified, as shown in court filings, and the bureau requested return receipt, meaning it asked for confirmation, via email or postcard, that the letters had been delivered. The BLM published its final impact statement in December 2020.

Five days before the Trump administration left office, on Jan. 15, 2021, the BLM approved the Thacker Pass project. In a press release, Evans of Lithium Americas said the decision was “the culmination of over 10 years of hard work from the Thacker Pass team, as well as the BLM and other federal, state and local agencies, all of whom worked tirelessly to ensure their respective commitments to environmental stewardship and community engagement.”

Within four weeks, cattle rancher Edward Bartell filed suit in federal court against BLM, igniting a legal fight that continues to this day.

Bartell alleged that the impact statement had not accurately assessed the effect of the mine and its acid plant on an area with limited water. All of Nevada suffers from “severe drought” conditions, and the mine would use about 3,000 gallons of water per minute, according to the impact statement. Bartell said the mine would harm his water supply and ranch productivity and threaten trout and bird habitats. The government defended its assessement and methodologies and said it complied with protocols.

Environmental groups joined Bartell’s lawsuit, echoing his concerns about water use, pollution and habitat destruction, despite the climate benefits of green vehicles.

“The bottom line is that any mine, especially an open-pit mine, is going to obliterate the habitat that’s there,” said John Hadder, executive director of the Great Basin Resource Watch, a regional environmental organization. “There’s automatically a hit to the environment, which by definition makes it not green.”

“The bottom line is that any mine, especially an open-pit mine, is going to obliterate the habitat that’s there,” said John Hadder. (Alejandra Rubio for NBC News)

“The bottom line is that any mine, especially an open-pit mine, is going to obliterate the habitat that’s there,” said John Hadder. (Alejandra Rubio for NBC News)

Katie Fite, public lands director at WildLands Defense, a plaintiff in the suit, said the mine would endanger eagles, grouse, antelopes and, most importantly, sagebrush.

The sagebrush, said Fite, “makes everything tick out here. … [I]f we lose the sagebrush, we lose the wildlife.”

Native American resistance to the project also began to stir. Why it took so long to emerge, say tribe members, has to do with Covid, the isolation of the reservations and the way BLM did its business. The fate of the mine will hinge, in part, on whether the court believes federal officials fulfilled their obligation to consult local tribes.

The BLM impact statement from 2020 asserted that contact with representatives from the Fort McDermitt tribe, “Summit Lake Paiute Tribe, and Winnemucca Indian Colony have not raised any concerns about specific traditional areas, sacred sites, or ceremonial areas or activities in the Project area.” The three groups are the officially recognized Native American organizations closest to Thacker Pass.

Nowhere, however, did the statement say that the BLM had actually heard back from any of the three groups.

Katie Fite, public lands director at WildLands Defense, a plaintiff in the suit, said the mine would endanger eagles, grouse, antelopes and, most importantly, sagebrush. (Alejandra Rubio for NBC News)

Katie Fite, public lands director at WildLands Defense, a plaintiff in the suit, said the mine would endanger eagles, grouse, antelopes and, most importantly, sagebrush. (Alejandra Rubio for NBC News)

A spokesperson said that the bureau never received any response from the individuals it sought to contact or the three groups they represented. Asked if the agency has proof of delivery of the three letters it sent in 2019, the spokesperson declined to comment, saying, “The specific element you are asking about is under litigation.”

Judy Rojo, chairwoman of the Winnemucca Indian Colony in 2019 and currently, referred NBC News to legal counsel when asked for comment. The lawyer said that “the Colony is currently deciding whether to pursue a new lawsuit.”

“I can tell you,” the lawyer added, “that the [Colony] is adamantly opposed to the development of the lithium mine site.”

Those tribal officials NBC News could reach expressed frustration with the way the federal government had handled the consultation process, and noting that their members, who live in a remote, thinly populated area with minimal access to the internet, are often short on information. The problem was made worse by the pandemic.

Randi Lone Eagle, chairwoman of the Summit Lake Paiute in December 2019 and still chairwoman, said that local groups are upset about the mine “because of how, number one, BLM did things, how they corresponded with us, just kind of checked off their box.”

Lone Eagle said that past interactions with BLM had involved face-to-face meetings.

“You sending a letter does not mean you actually sat at the table and had tribal consultation with the governing body to talk about this subject,” said Lone Eagle. “Had they done things appropriately, it would have been different. I think we’d have a different outcome.”

Lone Eagle said that “of course” she opposes a project the size of Thacker Pass that would “tear apart” land, and that the site has spiritual significance.

She said that she received BLM’s December 2019 letter and sent a response to the bureau in January, expressing her opposition to Thacker Pass. BLM said it received no letter, and Lone Eagle did not provide a copy of the letter to NBC News.

Opponents of the mine draw on both oral and recorded history to establish its spiritual importance to the Shoshone and Paiute people. According to Gary McKinney, tribal oral history says soldiers massacred around 30 Paiute tribal members at Thacker Pass in 1865. (Alejandra Rubio for NBC News)

NBC News was unable to reach the person who in 2019 led the Fort McDermitt tribe, the tribe closest to the mine, and who was addressed by name in BLM's letter.

The current chairwoman of the group did not answer directly when asked if the tribe ever received BLM’s letter, but said the tribe didn't respond.

“Whether they were letters or whether they were emails, the tribe never responded in 2019,” said Maxine Redstar. The tribal office was closed for nine months because of snow and then because of the pandemic. “If BLM was trying to engage with the tribe, that didn’t happen because the building was abandoned,” Redstar said.

She said she took office in December 2020, and didn’t learn of the Thacker Pass project until February 2021.

Redstar said she has refused to take sides in the controversy. She doesn’t want to “disrespect the elders” and their feelings about the site, but she’s also wary of frustrating young people who need jobs — and of tangling with Lithium Americas. “My position as chairwoman of the tribe is not for, it’s not against,” she said. “Where would you stand? Because it’s really hard. … We all know that we’re up against the corporation, and we’re [a poor] tribe.”

After some tribal members like McKinney petitioned in March 2021 for the tribal council to oppose the mine, Redstar and other members of the council agreed to “disengage” with Lithium Americas, meaning cease contact.

Neither the Lake Summit nor the Fort McDermitt tribes, two of the groups BLM said it contacted in 2019, has opted to take legal action against the mine. But starting in spring 2021, at least three other groups in Nevada and Oregon — the Burns Paiute Tribe, the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, and People of Red Mountain — filed to intervene in Bartell’s suit, arguing the mine should not go forward since they were not consulted. While People of Red Mountain are a McDermitt tribal subgroup, both the Burns and Reno-Sparks groups are more than 100 miles from Thatcher Pass.

The Winnemucca Indian Colony, the third group BLM said it contacted in 2019, also tried to join the suit, but was rebuffed by a judge who denied the motion “primarily because it is untimely." The judge also noted that the colony had not provided evidence to rebut the claim by the BLM that it had properly consulted with the colony.

An ‘Indian fight’

Opponents of the mine draw on both oral and recorded history to establish its spiritual importance to the Shoshone and Paiute people. According to Gary McKinney, tribal oral history says soldiers massacred around 30 Paiute tribal members at Thacker Pass in 1865.

A contemporary newspaper account and a 1929 book, both cited in court filings, described an early-morning raid on a Paiute camp in September 1865 by the 1st Nevada Cavalry Battalion that killed women and children. The article called it an “Indian fight,” and said it left at least 31 Indians “permanently friendly,” meaning dead, and said that tally was probably low.

McKinney says that tribal members go to Thacker Pass to gather roots, medicinal herbs and berries for traditional ceremonies and rituals. Like many members of his tribe, he believes the valley, also known to Paiutes as Rotten Moon, is a “final resting place” for his ancestors.

Members of other Indigenous groups far from Thacker Pass have expressed support for McKinney and the opponents of the mine. To raise awareness, activists from around the U.S. ran, biked, rode horses and drove 2,600 miles from Nevada to New York.

Ky NoHeart, a member of the Muscogee Nation, who took part in the moving protest, in front of the United Nations. (Victor Llorente for NBC News)

Ky NoHeart, a member of the Muscogee Nation, who took part in the moving protest, in front of the United Nations. (Victor Llorente for NBC News)

Ky NoHeart, a member of the Muscogee Nation who lives in Arizona, took part in the moving protest. McKinney and two other members of the Fort McDermitt tribe helped him drive part of the way.

“When you come in and take those resources off the land you destroy it,” said NoHeart. “We just want tribal lands to be left alone. It’s not just the Paiute people — all of the Indigenous people want the mine stopped.”

Ky NoHeart, seen here at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota in April, ran and drove across the country to raise awareness and opposition to the proposed lithium mine at Thacker Pass. (Dan Koeck for NBC News)

Ky NoHeart, seen here at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota in April, ran and drove across the country to raise awareness and opposition to the proposed lithium mine at Thacker Pass. (Dan Koeck for NBC News)

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Ky NoHeart, seen here at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota in April, ran and drove across the country to raise awareness and opposition to the proposed lithium mine at Thacker Pass. (Dan Koeck for NBC News)

Ky NoHeart, seen here at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota in April, ran and drove across the country to raise awareness and opposition to the proposed lithium mine at Thacker Pass. (Dan Koeck for NBC News)

But the protesters don’t speak for all the Native Americans in northern Nevada. Redstar of the Fort McDermitt tribe says the mine remains a divisive issue. She said the petition that led her tribe to temporarily “disengage” with Lithium Americas was brought by a small group — 20 to 25 people — out of a tribe with 1,300 members. She said the tribal council has since decided to “re-engage.”

Lithium Americas said that it had helped 11 members of the tribe get certifications necessary to work at the mine site, and that 50 members had expressed an interest in employment.

Alana Crutcher, of Elko, Nevada, a member of the Fort McDermitt tribe, has worked in the mining industry for over 17 years. She said mining has allowed her to provide financially for her family and access college tuition assistance for two of her five children. 

“This opportunity is going to open doors not only for our younger people but for our communities as well. I am very much in support of that,” said Crutcher. 

In a 2021 court filing, Crutcher said the jobs Thacker Pass would create are “incredibly needed,” especially since tribal members are still reeling from the economic impact of Covid. “Mining is essential for our community to thrive,” she said.

Crutcher also said that in the tribal oral history she learned, there had been no mention of a massacre at Thacker Pass.

For now, supporters and opponents can only wait. Court rulings to date do not bode well for opponents. People of Red Mountain have been dismissed from pursuing the suit for procedural reasons, and the judge has indicated the tribes aren't likely to succeed in some of their claims and raised questions about whether there are any "burial or massacre sites" at Thacker Pass.

The Bureau of Land Management said in a statement that “the issue is currently under litigation and as such we are unable to comment on it at this time.”

In February, the state of Nevada granted the necessary permits to start construction. A federal judge is expected to rule on the lawsuit by the environmental and tribal groups after final motions are filed in August, which means Lithium Americas could start digging this fall.

“If this goes up,” McKinney said, “then it’s a domino effect." (Alejandra Rubio for NBC News)

“If this goes up,” McKinney said, “then it’s a domino effect." (Alejandra Rubio for NBC News)

McKinney is already worried about the next lithium mine on Native American land. “If this goes up,” he said, “then it’s a domino effect. The next one wants to go up, then the next, and the next until we have no land left.”

Photo editor:

Shahrzad Elghanayan

Photo director:

Zara Katz

Art director:

Chelsea Stahl