The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comment during the next 45 days on a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Mine in central Nevada.
The document considers impacts to the endangered Tiehm’s buckwheat, a perennial flower that grows on only 10 acres around the mine site. Australia-based Ioneer, the mine’s developer, has modified its mining proposal to try to protect the plant after it was listed on the federal endangered species list, but conservationists say the plant is still severely threatened by the project, which would destroy a quarter of its limited habitat.
Public comment opens Friday and runs through June 3.
That feedback will inform the agency’s final decision, likely issued later this year.
The proposed mine, planned for 40 miles southwest of Tonopah, could produce enough lithium to supply nearly 370,000 electric vehicles per year.
Comments may be submitted online.