Increasing lithium production focus of Reno event

Current global demand for lithium is about 1 million tons per year, a number that’s expected to triple by 2030. The lone domestic source of lithium is the Silver Peak mine about 40 miles southwest of Tonopah, which produces about 5,000 tons of lithium carbonate annually.

That’s less than .05 percent of current demand. Creating a stable supply of lithium, and ensuring it’s used domestically, was the focus of last week’s NCET’s New Energy Transition luncheon at Tamarack Casino. The sold-out event featured a panel of lithium experts whose companies are working to advance Nevada’s lithium loop – a closed cycle that encompasses every stage of the lithium supply chain from extraction to the mineral’s use in electric vehicle battery production and concluding with EV battery recycling.

Panelist Tim Crowley, vice president of government and external affairs for Lithium Americas, told NNBW that domestic lithium production is important for a number of reasons — not the least of which is national security.

“The United States is barely on the playing field today with lithium supply, and we are vulnerable because of that,” Crowley said in an interview following the conclusion of the event. “There is an urgency to increase domestic supply so that we are not dependent on foreign sources and to actually meet all our energy needs.”

To that end, two large lithium mines are being developed in the Silver State, which is becoming ground zero for lithium production. After years of work to secure permitting and project funding, Lithium Americas is close to starting construction on its Thacker Pass project in the McDermitt Caldera near Orovada. The site is estimated to contain one of the largest lithium resources in the U.S., Crowley said. Annual lithium production — expected to begin in 2028 — could reach 80,000 tons annually, he added.

Reno-based Ioneer, meanwhile, is advancing its Rhyolite Ridge lithium and boron project in Esmeralda County. The mine could deliver as much as 22,000 tons of lithium carbonate annually beginning as early as 2026, Ioneer managing director Bernard Rowe told NNBW last September.

Currently, large-scale lithium production occurs in Chile, Australia and China. The latter is the world’s largest refiner of lithium carbonate. Moving production and refining to the U.S. rather than China reduces America’s dependence on a foreign source that could decide to hamper supply if global relations cool.

“We have all the components here in Nevada — every piece in the supply chain is represented at some level, from mining at the front end all the way to recycling at the tail end,” Crowley said. “Layered on top of that, we have a government that wants to diversify and is excited about our opportunities to diversify. A lot of people are aligning to get things done; the push is on from the governor, state and federal officials, and the university.

“We can’t keep up with demand,” Crowley added. “We are highly under-supplied in the United States, so we are dependent on foreign sources to fulfill our needs, which puts us at high geopolitical risk – the leverage that China has over us puts us at a huge vulnerability.”

Jim Hodge, senior vice president of power sources at Henderson-based Lithion Battery, said lithium isn’t the only critical component in the battery supply chain that’s dominated by foreign sources. Essentially every other component in a lithium-ion battery, including battery-grade aluminum and copper foil, liquid electrolyte salts and solvents, is currently being produced in China.

“The whole electrification process in the U.S. is dominated by foreign-sourced materials,” Hodge said.

Caleb Cage, executive director of the Nevada Battery Coalition, moderated the New Energy Transition event. The NBC is a trade association made up of 19 member companies whose goal is to make Nevada the battery storage center of North America, Cage said.

That goal is only possible by closing the lithium loop — an initiative that has received strong support at the state and federal levels, Cage said.

“Nevada is the only state in the United States that has companies operating at each stage of the lithium supply chain,” he said. “We have the only operating lithium mining operation in the U.S., and we have two more mines that are coming online in the next few years.

“One of those mines received the largest federal loan for a natural resources project in U.S. history, so we are receiving that federal investment, and we have received critical support from (Gov. Joe Lombardo).”

Lithium America’s Thacker Pass project has been a nearly 15-year journey from initial exploration through permitting and construction, Crowley said. Buildout of the Thacker Pass mining and processing facilities will cost as much as $3 billion and could employ as many as 2,000 construction workers, Crowley added.

The Department of Energy’s Loan Progress Office has agreed to conditionally loan Lithium Americas $2.26 billion, and General Motors has pledged an additional $650 million in project funding under a long-term partnership where Lithium Americas will supply GM with enough lithium carbonate to make as many as 800,000 electric vehicles each year under a 15-year offtake agreement.

“We have the money, we have the permitting, and we have the team on the playing field,” Crowley said. “This state is going to be a battery powerhouse, and the front end of the supply chain is pushing hard – it just takes a lot of time.”

The next big lithium forum in the state is the inaugural Nevada lithium summit on Sept. 29-30 at Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort. The event is organized by Lombardo.