RHYOLITE RIDGE, Nevada (KLAS) — Bernard Rowe got here to Nevada to search out gold. When he discovered lithium as a substitute, he went to work on a mission that is consumed almost a decade of his life within the hills exterior of Dyer, about 225 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Rowe, a geologist and managing director of the Australian mining firm Ioneer, has recognized a lithium deposit he stated is like none different. Not as a result of it is the largest, however due to the shape it has taken over thousands and thousands of years.
The lithium is in a rock formation that lends itself to a extra conventional sort of mining, in contrast to different mines that collect lithium by filtering it out of dry lake beds. That is the way it’s performed around the globe — and over the mountains at Silver Peak, the one lithium mine working within the U.S.
With the Rhyolite Ridge rock formation within the background, Ioneer’s Bernard Rowe describes the lithium-boron deposit that is on the web site throughout a tour in early Could. Ioneer’s Chad Leftich is at left. (Greg Haas / 8NewsNow)
In early Could, Rowe led 8 Information Now on a tour of Rhyolite Ridge and demonstrated what makes it so distinctive. (See video at high of story.)
“The filtration is a big part of the complexity of these deposits,” Rowe stated. He held up two samples he retrieved from a hillside, each containing lithium.
In his proper hand, nuggets of a crumbly substance he referred to as “popcorn clay.”
“This is very difficult to filter,” he stated. Then, in his left hand, he held up a beige rock he referred to as “Searlesite.”
“This is very easy to filter. And if it’s easy to filter, it also means that you’re going to use a whole lot less water.”
One other Ioneer consultant poured a little bit of ingesting water on every pattern to deliver the purpose residence. The popcorn clay blended with the water, turning into a multitude in Rowe’s proper hand. He remarked it was the kind of clay that may remind somebody of what they’d see on a potter’s wheel. The Searlesite held its type, extra of a stable rock that does not combine with water.
That straightforward distinction is as a result of the rock accommodates boron, a second mineral that Ioneer will take from Rhyolite Ridge.
Ioneer’s Bernard Rowe explains the distinction between two samples on the Rhyolite Ridge web site. Each comprise lithium, however lithium inside a rock containing boron, proper, is way simpler to course of. (Greg Haas / 8NewsNow)
“This is 50 or 60 feet thick, this layer. And we’ve hit it in every single drill hole — bar a couple that we’ve drilled, and we’ve drilled 150 of them out here. So we know exactly where this unit is, we know exactly its thickness,” Rowe stated.
“We know that sitting on top of this unit is the popcorn clay, which has got lithium but no boron. And sitting on top of that again is that sandstone. And so when we drill a hole, we recognize those same layers, and hence we describe like layers of a cake,” he stated.
Distinctive lithium deposit
The boron within the rock means Ioneer can get it with hard-rock mining methods.
The boron can also be priceless. It is used to make windshields and different sturdy glass, as a fertilizer, in cleansers and detergents together with an abundance of different industrial makes use of.
“Rhyolite Ridge is the only lithium deposit in Nevada, in fact in the world that we know of, that has this unique boron mineral, Searlesite, in the quantities that we have it here,” Rowe defined.
“The mineral exists in some other places in the world, but not in the quantity that we have it here. It really makes up about 50% of this rock,” he stated.
A brief drive up the gravel highway, Rowe identified to a valley on the base of Rhyolite Ridge. He stated the deposit extends greater than 4 miles from the place he parked the truck. It is greater than a mile huge and as a lot as 60 toes thick.
“Our drilling here says there are 500 million tons,” Rowe stated. Relying on how the mine is operated, the deposit may very well be producing lithium for greater than 100 years. And past that, the popcorn clay may very well be processed sooner or later if it is economically possible and if water is out there.
Making refined chemical substances
The lithium-boron deposit is not the one factor distinctive concerning the plan for Rhyolite Ridge.
“We’re going to make boric acid and lithium carbonate, like, refined chemicals,” Rowe stated.
“This will be the first lithium mine in the world to put hard rock mining with a big chemical processing plant,” he stated. “No one else has done that anywhere in the world.”
Ioneer’s Bernard Rowe talks concerning the types of lithium discovered at Rhyolite Ridge, simply northwest of Dyer close to the Nevada-California border. (Greg Haas / 8NewsNow)
The financial scale of mining is a little bit of a shock to individuals who do not know the enterprise. On the earth of lithium, hundreds are shipped to China for processing. Rowe stated that features lithium mined in Australia.
Having a processing plant at Rhyolite Ridge means ore will not even be trucked down the county highway that goes to Dyer.
Additionally, Ioneer will be capable of backfill as they increase the mine, eliminating the necessity to transport spent ore off the positioning.
Risky lithium carbonate costs are one other necessary think about what finally occurs at Rhyolite Ridge and elsewhere in Nevada. After peaking at about $80,000 per ton in 2023, lithium costs have dropped by about 87%, now at about $10,000 per ton (72,500 yuan on the Chinese language market, the place 60% of lithium is traded). Ioneer misplaced its largest investor in February when South Africa-based Sibanye-Stillwater pulled out as a consequence of dropping costs. Ioneer stated on the time it will work to determine a “strong equity partner” to make sure the mine proceeds to manufacturing.
Ioneer has secured approval from the U.S. Bureau of Land Administration (BLM), together with a $996 million federal mortgage. However development is not anticipated to begin instantly, presumably ready till late 2025. The mine is anticipated to enter manufacturing in 2028.
Outlook on lithium costs
Dr. Simon Jowitt, Nevada State Geologist and director of the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, stated costs and instability make this a tough time to begin a lithium mine. Some mines have reacted to low costs by shutting down till it turns into worthwhile once more.
“Overall, lithium demand will certainly increase over time as a result of increased demand for lithium-ion batteries. But this is the long term, and on a short-term basis we are likely to see these periods of oversupply and associated slumps in the lithium price,” Jowitt stated.
“Slumps and volatility in the lithium price could significantly affect the development of domestic lithium supply chains. Throw other uncertainties like the development of other battery technologies and other lithium mines globally and it is an interesting picture to try and understand,” he stated.
Andrew Woods, director of UNLV’s Heart for Enterprise and Financial Analysis (CBER), agreed that the long-term outlook is for increased demand.
“Mining in Nevada is looking at the long run demand over 10-30 years, which is still expected to grow. If we were still living in the world of January 2nd, 2025, I would say all else equaled, we’d see the downward pressure on prices of lithium stabilize as steady demand eases the supply glut. 2024 was a record year for EVs being a share of the global automotive market and the start of 2025 globally was okay for the industry,” Woods stated final week from Quebec, the place he was assembly with lecturers and universities as a part of the Nevada Tech Hubs settlement.
“But with tariffs and a trade war, it introduces a lot of uncertainties that may have unintended consequences,” Woods stated. “Some of that could be good for mining in Nevada, if the demand for onshoring ticks up.”
Ioneer secured a $996 million mortgage from the U.S. authorities.
Woods cautioned that Trump administration strikes to revoke funding authorised underneath the Biden administration may lead to a horrible scenario with increased lithium costs coupled with slower development in essential components of a home provide chain.
“It doesn’t necessarily change course for these mines but could decrease the room for error in their financial models and thus hurt investment and timelines in an industry with ever-increasing demand and long timelines for both getting their approvals and operations and return on investment,” Woods stated.
For Ioneer, boron manufacturing may very well be the important thing for working by lows within the lithium market, a degree emphasised in a information launch Sunday evening (Monday in Australia). That report estimates the lifetime of the mine at 95 years, and will increase Rhyolite Ridge’s estimated ore reserve at 247 million tons, 4 instances greater than a 2020 estimate.
Rowe issued a press release saying that the change permits Ioneer to match prevailing market situations. “No other lithium project offers this level of flexibility and economic advantage. In periods of low cycle lithium pricing, like today, we plan to prioritize the high-boron ore production to optimize the relative proportion of total revenue derived from boric acid,” Rowe stated.
Rhyolite Ridge obstacles
A big a part of information protection concerning lithium exploration within the state has centered on the scale of the discoveries and potential conflicts with conservation considerations, together with protected species of crops and fish.
Rhyolite Ridge has been on the heart of a battle that started eight years in the past surrounding Tiehm’s buckwheat, an endangered wildflower that grows on the web site of the mine, and nowhere else within the wild. Rowe advised 8 Information Now Ioneer is dedicated to preserving populations of the wildflower.
“We knew about it from the outset,” Rowe stated. “However as soon as we knew that it was going to get listed, and there can be vital habitat, and so forth., then we sat down with the Fish and Wildlife and stated OK, let’s have a look at if we will provide you with an answer and that is what we did.
“It wasn’t that difficult. It just took commitment to do it,” Rowe stated. Ioneer is utilizing a greenhouse in Gardnerville to check Tiehm’s buckwheat. Pots with seedlings are underneath the supervision of a full-time botanist on Ioneer’s payroll.
A greenhouse in Gardnerville the place Ioneer employs a full-time botanist to check Tiehm’s buckwheat is proven on this Could 5, 2025, photograph. (Greg Haas / 8NewsNow)
Regardless of Ioneer’s statements, the Heart for Organic Range (CBD) has filed a federal lawsuit difficult the BLM’s approval of the mine.
The wildflower will go extinct if the mine’s present plan strikes ahead, based on CBD Nice Basin Director Patrick Donnelly, who calls Rhyolite Ridge “the extinction mine.” The group proposed another plan that will hold mining exercise a mile away from Tiehm’s buckwheat, however the BLM authorised a plan that was far much less restrictive. The lawsuit describes that call as a flagrant violation of quite a few environmental safety legal guidelines.
A report by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service dated Sept. 4, 2024, concludes the mission won’t trigger the wildflower’s extinction.
Tiehm’s buckwheat (Eriogonum tiehmii). (Picture credit score: Patrick Donnelly, Heart for Organic Range)
Donnelly dismisses Rowe’s dedication to guard the wildflower, pointing to a violation in early 2023 that resulted in a quotation issued to Ioneer by the BLM for trespassing throughout the habitat of the endangered flower.
In October, BLM authorised the mine’s plan, which incorporates measures to mitigate mud and isolate the plant behind fences. The wildflower was dormant throughout the current tour.
A second battle over a uncommon fish — the Fish Lake Valley tui chub — may intensify because the species strikes towards safety underneath the Endangered Species Act. The fish lives in a single spring on a non-public ranch not removed from the highway resulting in Rhyolite Ridge. CBD argues that extra pressure on groundwater provides will affect the fish’s solely habitat within the wild.
Ioneer paid for a groundwater research of Fish Lake Valley on the request of the BLM, and Rowe stated the research confirmed two necessary issues: 1.) The water desk stays at its highest ranges within the northern a part of the valley, the place the tui chub lives; and, 2.) The chemical signature of the water in that spring is completely different from the aquifer on the mine web site, indicating it has a special supply.
“Few mining companies have done more than Ioneer to respond to environmental sensitivities. We are proud of that fact, and it has resulted in a better, more resilient project,” Rowe stated.
Donnelly countered that the science paid for by Ioneer is not as dependable because the science his group makes use of.
The tour offered a have a look at part of Nevada that few Las Vegas residents have seen. Fish Lake Valley is a world away from the bustle of town, a house to alfalfa farmers, many who’ve been in Dyer most of their lives. Fish Lake Valley runs up the western fringe of Nevada on the California border. The best level in Nevada — Boundary Peak at 13,147 toes — towers simply to the north; the southernmost tip of the valley pokes into California on the city of Oasis.
Tomorrow, 8 Information Now takes a have a look at how folks in Dyer really feel about Rhyolite Ridge.
