#lithiumamericas — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #lithiumamericas, aggregated by home.social.
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Boo hiss! #Colonialism at work!
US government takes equity stake in one of the world’s largest #LithiumMines
The #Trump administration is now a significant stakeholder in the controversial mine at #ThackerPass.
by Justine Calma
Oct 1, 2025"Donald Trump’s administration is taking a 5 percent equity ownership of mining company Lithium Americas, on top of another 5 percent stake in the company’s joint mining project with GM in Nevada, the #DepartmentOfEnergy announced yesterday. The mine at Thacker Pass is expected to become the largest producer of lithium in the Western Hemisphere once it opens in 2028.
"Lithium is a crucial component in batteries used for electric vehicles, wind and solar energy storage, and rechargeable devices of all kinds. Both the Biden and Trump administrations have sought to wean the US off foreign imports of lithium. This announcement is the latest step President Trump has taken to assert more control over domestic supply chains for key materials.
"The latest step President Trump has taken to assert more control over domestic supply chains for key materials
"The Thacker Pass mine is supposed to produce around 40,000 metric tons of #LithiumCarbonate annually for batteries once it’s fully operational. US production of lithium is currently under 5,000 metric tons. For comparison, China — the third-biggest lithium producer after Australia and Chile — already produces 40,000 metric tons annually.
"The mine has been under construction since 2023, following fierce opposition from nearby Native American tribes. Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union found that the federal government’s permitting of the mine violated Indigenous peoples’ rights in a February 2025 report, alleging it failed to obtain 'free, prior, and #InformedConsent' from affected tribes. Ranchers and environmental groups concerned about the mine’s impact on local #water sources and endangered species have also opposed the project."
Read more:
https://www.theverge.com/news/790057/lithium-mine-us-trump-us-government-stake-thacker-pass#WaterIsLife #USPol #LithiumMining #Extortion #TrumpSucks #CorporateColonialism #Corporatocracy #LithiumAmericas #ThackerPassDefenders #ProtectPeeHeeMuhuh
#DefendTheSacred #NoLithiumMining
#StopThackerPass
#LithiumAmericasCanada #NoMiningWithoutConsent #ProtectTheSacred #LithiumGoldRush #JusticeForMyronDewey #PoliceState
#SecretSurveillance #ACAB
#IndigenousLand #IndigenousNews -
Trump administration wants 10% stake in American lithium miner that sells to GM
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Discussions over the loan's potential reevaluation were first reported by the Washington Free Beacon. The #Trump admin's *request* for an equity stake has not been previously reported.
…The #equity request came during discussions in recent months over the loan's amortization schedule, with #LithiumAmericas proposing to shift when part of the loan's principle would be repaid although not the repayment timeline itself or the total interest the LPO would receive….
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…The $2.93 billion #ThackerPass project was approved by #Trump at the end of his first term. The loan from the Dept of #Energy's Loan Programs Office [LPO] was closed last year by #Biden admin officials.
The loan has a 24-year term, with interest rates based on the #US Treasury rate as each tranche is drawn.
#LithiumAmericas was slated to make its first draw on the loan earlier this month but Trump officials sought to *renegotiate* terms….
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Of course he does
Exclusive: #Trump wants piece of company in charge of #US’ biggest #lithium #mine
The Trump admin is seeking an equity stake of as much as 10% in #LithiumAmericas as it renegotiates terms of the company's $2.26 billion #Energy Department loan for its #ThackerPass lithium project with #GeneralMotors, two people familiar with the discussions told Reuters.
#law #extortion
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/trump-administration-seeks-equity-stake-lithium-americas-amid-loan-talks-2025-09-23/ -
#LawEnforcement's #SecretSurveillance of Defenders at #ThackerPass, Peehee Mu'huh
#LithiumAmericas of Canada plans huge man camp in Winnemucca
By @bsnorrell.blogspot.com , #CensoredNews, Updated Aug. 12, 2025
"The #BIA and #BLM were part of 10 agencies in a joint #terrorism task force stalking defenders of Peehee Mu-huh, Thacker Pass, new documents reveal. The surveillance intensified when #MyronDewey supported. The Nevada Sheriff said there could be 'another #StandingRock,' and called in a 'spin master' to discredit #WaterProtectors, as he had done at Standing Rock.
"#ProPublica and #NevadaIndependent expose the surveillance. Censored News tracks back on the timeline. Interior Sec. #DebHaaland's BIA was part of the joint terrorism task force targeting the defenders of Peehee Mu-huh."
Original story:
THACKER PASS, Nevada -- "While descendants of the survivors of the massacre of Paiutes at #PeeheeMuhuh struggled to protect the sacred remains from the digging of a lithium mine, owned by Lithium Americas on Canada -- law enforcement had a spider web of surveillance. The law enforcement surveillance of defenders of Peehee Mu'huh, Thacker Pass, began before
Myron Dewey was killed, and continued afterwards."ProPublica and Nevada Independent expose the spy trail of law enforcement and private security of Lithium Americas. The surveillance web of 10 agencies included the BIA, and a counter-terrorism task force.
"During a meeting in April of 2021, the sheriff met with a spinmaster who linked the resistance to Standing Rock. This was six months before Myron Dewey was killed when a truck driven by a mining
engineer [an employee of #LithiumAmericas] hit Myron head on."Myron was well known for his reporting and drone coverage at Standing Rock 2016--2017. Myron was livestreaming the day before he was killed near his home in #YombaNevada, Sept. 26, 2021. Myron was fighting the #USMilitary's expansion of the bombing range on his #Paiute homeland."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/07/law-enforcements-secret-surveillance-of.html#JusticeForMyronDewey #PoliceState
#SecretSurveillance #ACAB
#IndigenousLand #IndigenousNews
#LandDefenders #StandWithStandingRock
#ProtectPeeHeeMuhuh
#DefendTheSacred #NoLithiumMining
#StopThackerPass #LithiumAmericas
#LithiumAmericasCanada
#LithiumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #ReaderSupportedNews -
Law Enforcement's Secret Surveillance of Defenders at #ThackerPass, #PeeheeMuhuh, Exposed by #ProPublica and #NevadaIndependent
#LithiumAmerica of Canada plans huge #ManCamp in #WinnemuccaBy #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Updated July 31, 2025
THACKER PASS, #Nevada -- "While descendants of the survivors of the massacre of #Paiutes at Peehee Mu'huh struggled to protect the sacred remains from the digging of a #LithiumMine, owned by Lithium Americas on Canada -- law enforcement had a spider web of surveillance."The law enforcement surveillance of defenders of Peehee Mu'huh, Thacker Pass, began before #MyronDewey was killed, and continued afterwards.
"ProPublica and Nevada Independent expose the spy trail of law enforcement and private security of Lithium Americas. The surveillance web of 10 agencies included the #BIA, and a #CounterTerrorism task force.
"During a meeting in April of 2021, the sheriff met with a spinmaster who linked the resistance to #StandingRock. This was six months before Myron Dewey was killed when a truck driven by a mining
engineer hit Myron head on."Myron was well known for his #reporting and #drone coverage at Standing Rock 2016--2017. Myron was livestreaming the day before he was killed near his home in #YombaNevada, Sept. 26, 2021. Myron was fighting the U.S. military's expansion of the bombing range on his #Paiute homeland. The Nevada legislators were pushing hard for the expansion, which Biden signed into law. Myron had also been delivering supplies to Thacker Pass in the months before he was killed."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/07/law-enforcements-secret-surveillance-of.html#PoliceState #SecretSurveillance #ACAB #IndigenousLand #IndigenousNews #LandDefenders #JusticeForMyronDewey #StandWithStandingRock #ProtectPeeHeeMuhuh #DefendTheSacred #NoLithiumMining #StopThackerPass #LithiumAmericas #LithiumAmericasCanada #LithiumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #ReaderSupportedNews
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Interior Sec. #DebHaaland's Pueblo is in the #BallisticMissile Parts Business
By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Nov. 4, 2024
LAGUNA PUEBLO, New Mexico -- "Interior Sec. Deb Haaland's tribe's enterprise, #LagunaIndustries, manufactures parts for both the ballistic missile, and parts for combat jets, including the #F15. #Biden recently approved the sale of fifty F-15 jets to #Israel in a $20 billion deal.
"The discovery comes after Biden was protested at #GilaRiver Indian Community, and Interior Sec. Haaland was sued by three #Arizona tribes.
[...]
"Interior Sec. Deb Haaland's permit for lithium mining at #Hualapai ceremonial spring south of the #GrandCanyon, and her promotion of #LithiumMining now digging in to the #Paiute Massacre site, #PeeheeMuhuh, #ThackerPass in northern #Nevada, were difficult to understand. Until now.
"The lithium mining into the Paiute Massacre Site is for the benefit of big industry electric vehicles, and violates all federal laws that protect religious and historic sites, the water and environment, and endangered species. The mining operation is by #LithiumAmericas of Canada."The #Hualapai Tribe said Hualapai were never consulted before Haaland granted the drilling permit to the Australian company #HawkstoneMining. The Hualapai Tribe filed a federal lawsuit against Haaland.
"In a separate federal lawsuit, the #TohonoOodham and #SanCarlosApache Nations have filed a lawsuit against Haaland for the bulldozers now destroying ancient villages sites, burial places and medicine grounds in #SanPedroValley in Arizona, for #SunZia's transmission lines for a wind energy project.
The United States government is also allowing #EnergyFuels to operate a #UraniumMine in the Grand Canyon, now threatening the aquifer and poisoning Havasupai's air and ancestral homeland. The radioactive haul route to Energy Fuels uranium mill in the #WhiteMesaUte community in Utah endangers #Supai, #Paiute, #Dine' (#Navajo), #Hopi, and #Ute."The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management, BLM, has a history of rubber stamping environmental impact statements, resulting in devastation."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/interior-sec-haalands-pueblo-is-in.html#ReaderSupportedNews #NoWar #NoNuclearWeapons #NoLithiumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #RecycleLithium #RecycleCopper #WaterIsLife #DefendTheSacred #MotherEarth #ReaderSupportedNews
#FreePalestine #NoUraniumMining #Greenwashing #CulturalGenocide #CorporateColonialism #NoNukes #HaulNo #UraniumMining #WhiteMesaMill -
#Nevada #LithiumMine approved despite possible harm to #endangered #wildflower
Advocates vow to sue, saying plan, crucial to #Biden’s clean energy agenda, will drive #TiehmsBuckwheat to extinction
Thu 24 Oct 2024 16.36 EDT
"Environmentalists said Thursday that the mine’s final approval was a politically motivated violation of multiple US laws. The Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement: 'Litigation is now the only way [to] stop the Rhyolite Ridge Mine.'
[...]
"Opponents of the project say it’s the latest example of Biden’s administration running roughshod over US protections for native #wildlife, rare species and #SacredTribalLands in the name of slowing the #ClimateCrisis by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and bolstering national security by easing reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals.
"'We’ve been fighting to save Tiehm’s buckwheat for six years and we’re not giving up now,' Donnelly said.
"Nevada is home to the only existing lithium mine in the US. Another is currently under construction near the Oregon line 220 miles (354km) north of Reno. That #LithiumAmericas mine at #ThackerPass, which was approved in the final days of Donald #Trump’s administration, survived numerous legal challenges from #environmentalists and #NativeAmerican tribes who said it would destroy lands they considered sacred where their ancestors were massacred by US troops in 1865."
#SaveRhyoliteRidge
#SaveThackerPass #IoneerLtd #NoLithiumMining #RecycleLithium #BiodiversityNecessityDefense #CenterForBiologicalDiversity #ProtectTheSacred #TiehmsBuckwheat #EndangeredSpecies -
The Silent Killers in #IndianCountry: #Copper, #Lithium, #Uranium and #Plutonium
Judge finds plutonium plants in #NewMexico and #SouthCarolina violated environmental laws
By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Oct. 10, 2024
"The U.S. government's plan for increased plutonium production at #LosAlamos National Laboratory, in the heart of Pueblo lands in northern New Mexico, has been delayed by a federal judge.
"Continuing the U.S. legacy of poisoning Indian country with #radiation, this comes as the U.S. government is granting leases to foreign #mining companies targeting Native #sacred lands and communities.
"#CopperMining is targeting San CarlosApache's sacred #OakFlat; #Hualapai are suing the US Department of Interior to halt lithium mining at their sacred spring Ha'Kamwe'; and the U.S. government is promoting the ongoing digging into the #Paiute Massacre Site in northern Nevada for #lithium, in violation of all federal laws that protect Native religious and historic sites, the environment and endangered species.
"Uranium mining in the Grand Canyon threatens #Havasupai's aquifer, the haul route endangers everyone in the Four Corners region, and the uranium mill at White Mesa Ute in #Utah is poisoning #Utes.
"Interior Sec. #DebHaaland said in Farmington, N.M., that Los Alamos Labs would be the leader in the so-called '#GreenEnergy transition' in the #FourCorners region.
"More than 500 radioactive #UraniumMill sites remain on the #NavajoNation that have not been cleaned up by the U.S. #EPA, which deceives the public by announcing plans and promises to clean up the #ColdWar sites.
"In the current federal lawsuit, a federal judge in South Carolina ruled that U.S. energy officials illegally neglected to study impacts to the #environment in efforts to increase plutonium production for nuclear weapons in New Mexico and South Carolina.
"'South Carolina District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sided with environmental, #AntiNuclear proliferation and community groups last week who sued the National Nuclear Security Administration (#NNSA), which oversees the nuclear weapons stockpile as part of the U.S. Department of Energy [#DOE],' reports Source New Mexico.
"The U.S. is investing billions into restarting the manufacture of #PlutoniumPits, the grapefruit-sized spheres developed for #nuclear weapons. The plutonium is produced from uranium.
"'The federal government halted its manufacturing program at the #RockyFlatsPlant in #Colorado in 1989 after an FBI raid due to safety concerns and #EnvironmentalCrimes,' Source New Mexico reports.
"The U.S. government's #AtomicBombTesting in #Nevada left a trail of cancer and death for #WesternShoshone. The documentary 'Downwind' reveals the truth.
"'This is a very serious issue and that's why I can't let it go. I can't move on. People say, 'oh, why don't you just let it go?' Because it's killing my family. It's killing my land. It's killing my people. And that will not stand. It's being done in secret. And killing Indians in secret will not stand,' said Ian Zabarte, Principal Man of the Western Bands of the #ShoshoneNation of Indians. Zabarte is featured in '#Downwind' about radiation poisoning from U.S. #NuclearTests.
"Currently, foreign companies -- which receive the profits and find it easy to avoid clean up and responsibility for #environmental crimes and deaths from #cancer -- are receiving the mining leases from the U.S. government. The leases are granted by the U.S. Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and in the case of #UraniumMining in the #GrandCanyon, it is the USDA's Forestry Service. #Biden's attorneys have joined the lawsuit with #RioTinto to devastate #OakFlat.
"Australian and Canadian mining corporations are devastating Native lands and communities, poisoning the water and causing widespread cancer.
Rio Tinto, targeting Apaches #OakFlat, is an Australian company which destroyed 46,000 years of #Aboriginal sacred history in caves in #Australia."Another Australian mining company is targeting #Hualapai's sacred site. It is #Hawstone / #ArizonaLithium, in Perth, Australia.
"#EnergyFuels, now uranium mining in the Grand Canyon, and operating the uranium mill at #WhiteMesaUte, is a Canadian company. Another Canadian company is digging into the #Paiute Massacre Site. It is #LithiumAmericas.
#Hopi judge #DianeHumetewa granted a temporary restraining order to halt the lithium mining at #Hualapai's sacred spring."Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-silent-killers-in-indian-country.html#NoUraniumMining #CopperMining #LithiumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #EnvironmentalRacism #NoWar #NoNukes #NuclearWeapons #RecycleCopper #RecycleLithium #WaterIsLife #NuclearWaste #DefendTheSacred #WhiteMesaMill #Ute #AtomicBomb #CulturalGenocide #Genocide #FirstNations #NativeAmericanNews #SuperfundSites #ToxicWaste #SaveOakFlat #OpenPitMining #Pollution #ReaderSupportedNews
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Federal Judge #DianeHumetewa, #Hopi, is First to Halt Interior Sec. #DebHaaland's #Lithium Drilling Permits in #Native #Ceremonial Places
By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Sept. 18, 2024
"Federal Judge Diane Humetewa, Hopi, is the first federal judge to halt the lithium permits being given out by Interior Sec. Deb Haaland. Humetewa granted a temporary restraining order halting an Australian company's lithium drilling at #Hualapai's Sacred Spring.
"Now, U.S. District Judge Humetewa will rule on whether to make it permanent. Humetewa is the first to ask attorneys to submit arguments concerning the federal laws that protect historic and archaeological sites and the environment.
"Judge Humetewa gave lawyers on both sides until next Tuesday to summarize their arguments and more specifically respond to questions she asked about the government’s compliance with the #NationalHistoricPreservationAct and the #NationalEnvironmentalPolicyAct.
"#Biden's Justice Dept attorneys joined the drillers in court to argue for the drilling to proceed. And the #NavajoTransitionalEnergyCompany, a tribal enterprise in Farmington, NM, plans to do the drilling. CEO #VernLund has joined the board of the Australian-owned company #Hawkstone / #ArizonaLithium of Perth, Australia.
"In a separate case, the #TohonoOodham and #SanCarlosApache have filed a lawsuit against Interior Sec. Haaland for the bulldozers now destroying ancient village sites, #burial places and #MedicineGrounds in southern #Arizona. A Tucson federal judge refused to halt the destruction by the #SunZia Transmission Lines, for a wind energy project that plans to take electricity from New Mexico to California. The wind energy company, #PattenEnergy, is owned by the #CanadianPensionFund.
"The lithium drilling continues at the #Paiute Massacre Site in northern Nevada by the Canadian-owned #LithiumAmericas / #LithiumNevada. #Paiute and #Shoshone elderly and mothers have been charged in a court case for defending the grounds where their ancestors remain. #Haaland said she supports the #LithiumMining.
"#ApacheStronghold filed a case before the U.S. #SupremeCourt [#SCOTUS] this week, to halt the planned destruction of their ceremonial place, #OakFlat in Arizona, targeted for a massive copper mine by Australia's #RioTinto and #BHP, and pushed by the Biden administration. Rio Tinto already blew up 46,000 years of sacred #Aboriginal teachings in caves in #Australia. Rio Tinto was forced to admit widespread sexual attacks in its mines, with the highest number in Australia and #SouthAfrica."
Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/09/federal-judge-humetewa-hopi-is-first-to.html#DefendTheSacred #ReaderSupportedNews #NoMiningWithoutConsent #NoLithiumMining #EnvironmentalRacism #environment #Greenwashing #EVs #WaterIsLife #NoLithiumMiningWithoutConsent #HumanRights #WaterIsLife #HumanRightsDefenders #IndigenousActivists #CorporateColonialism #SaveOakFlat
#CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #ExtractiveMining -
#FortMcDermitt Tribal Leader Choked Youth During #LithiumAmericas Community Meeting
Crutcher attempted to pressure Jimmy into deleting portions of the meeting. Dorece Sam said that was not going to happen because it was a live broadcast
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News
Video by Young Warrior"A Fort McDermitt tribal leader attacked a minor and choked him. The youth was videotaping a public community meeting being held about financial benefits from lithium mining by Lithium Americas, now digging into the Paiute Massacre Site in northern Nevada.
"The incident was broadcast on #KPFK Los Angeles. It occurred during the quarterly meeting with Lithium Americas and #FortMcDermittTribalCouncil, on Monday, Jan. 8.
During the meeting, Arlo Crutcher, former chairman of Fort McDermitt #Paiute #Shoshone, walked across the conference room where tribal youth Jimmy, a minor, was videotaping."Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/01/fort-mcdermitt-tribal-leader-choked.html#moreLink to video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jWAKwPbb0U#LithiumMining #PauiteShoshone #EnvironmentalRacism #CorporateColonialism
#WaterIsLife #CulturalGenocide
#OpenPitMining #StopThackerPass #ThackerPass -
Battle of #LithiumMining at #Paiute Massacre Site Links Struggles Against #Greenwashing Around the World
By Brenda Norrell, #CensoredNews
December 6, 2023"The struggle to protect #PeeheeMuhuh, #ThackerPass, from lithium mine links the #global struggles of uncontacted #Indonesians battling #nickel mining, child slaves in #Congo's #cobalt mines, and the peoples' battles against lithium mining in #Serbia and #Argentina. They are all battling the greenwashing of the false solution of #electricvehicles for #ClimateChange.
"The desecration of the sacred Paiute Massacre site by #LithiumAmericas of Canada is proceeding because federal laws do not protect massacre sites. Further, a man camp of lithium miners threatens the rural communities of #FortMcDermitt Paiute #Shoshone Nation, and the town of #Winnemucca with crime, specifically sex trafficking.
"Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, #RenoSparks Indian Colony Chairman Arlan Melendez called for a new mobilization of #PeacefulProtests that will bring awareness to the public about the ongoing desecration to the sacred place and the damage to the #environment. He called for support from #SouthDakota and elsewhere to bring this desecration to the forefront.
"'We lost the lawsuit because the law favors #mining, especially in this state,' Chaimrnan Melendez said.
'Without water, there is no life,' said Dean Barlese, #PyramidLakePaiute, who offered the opening traditional prayer honoring all created things, all sacred creation. 'We're teaching our young people these prayer songs.'"'Our songs are still out there on the land.'
"Chairman Melendez said they are concerned about the crime that the mine will bring to Fort McDermitt region, in a rural area, including man camps, especially with the concern for missing and murdered women.
The lithium boom is like the gold rush, the whole state has lithium deposits, and #Nevada's 28 bands and tribes are sure to be affected. Already, sacred sites are being desecrated by lithium mining.
Chairman Melendez said the strategy is to mobilize tribes to speak with a louder voice so that the people will understand the devastation."Read more: https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/12/battle-of-lithium-mining-at-paiute.html
#MMIW #EnvironmentalRacism #CorporateColonialism #WaterIsLife #Mining #OpenPitMining #StopThackerPass
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Group outraged as controversial mining project breaks ground on site of massacre: ‘[We] were not consulted’
Rick Kazmer
Sun, November 19, 2023"A lithium mine is being constructed on #Nevada land that’s culturally important to #NativeAmericans. The project by #LithiumAmericas is at #ThackerPass, where on Sept. 12, 1865, United States soldiers massacred Native Americans, killing up to 50 people, according to the Guardian.
"Now, 158 years later, the Thacker Pass area has been identified as having the country’s largest #lithium lode. But members of tribal communities who consider the land sacred told the Guardian that they have been left out of the discussion as the operation moves forward, a point contested by the company on its website.
“'All the people here on the reservation were not consulted when this mine was approved,' Dorece Sam, a descendant of one of three survivors of the massacre, told the newspaper.
Why is lithium important?"Lithium is a key part of #batteries that power electric vehicles #EVs and other tech. Much of it is refined on the other side of the world, with Australia and China among the leaders. The U.S., however, is among the global leaders in underground lithium reserves, with more than 13 million tons, according to Visual Capitalist, an online data collector.
"Proponents of mining the untapped U.S. reserve cite the need to gain independence from China for lithium and other metals, a goal marked at the highest level of our government.
"LithiumMining, however, can be invasive. Native Americans interviewed by the Guardian said that since it’s happening on sacred land, it’s an invasion of the highest order.
"'You can’t blow up a mountain and call it green,' Max Wilbert of Protect Thacker Pass said in a press release quoted on the Sacred Land Film Project website.
What’s the impact?
"Mining at Thacker Pass is projected to use about 1.7 billion gallons of #water, producing more than 66,000 tons of lithium a year, per the Guardian.
"Company officials claim on their website that the project has been planned for a decade with input from tribal leaders. They plan to permanently employ 500 people for at least 40 years, generating $8 billion in tax payments during the mine’s lifetime.
"At least two tribes have lawsuits filed against the project. However, tribal historic preservation officer Michon Eben told the Guardian that activity on the land is already disturbing.
"'So, if any tribes or anybody wanted to mitigate that destruction, what are we going to mitigate?' Eben said to the newspaper, noting frustration with the court system.
What’s being done to help?"#Noninvasive lithium mining, or alternatives to the metal for use in batteries, is in the works in labs worldwide. The right solution could eliminate the need for #mining, or lithium, altogether.
"To help Native Americans protect Thacker Pass, you can research their story. The #SacredLandFilmProject has several ways to help, including #fundraising, calling #media and #officials, and sharing the story on #SocialMedia to highlight the cause."
Article source: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/group-outraged-controversial-mining-project-110000784.html
Link to Sacred Land film project:
https://sacredland.org/thacker_pass/Take action:
https://www.protectthackerpass.org/take-action/#StopThackerPass #CulturalGenocide #OpenPitMining #ProtectPeeheeMuhuh #LithiumNevada #NativeAmericanHistory
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Boo hiss! Judge Du did give the tribes another month to amend their complaint.
Judge again rules against #tribes’ effort to stop #lithium mine
By: Jeniffer Solis - November 21, 2023
"A Nevada federal judge ruled against three #NativeAmerican tribes seeking to halt construction of the country’s largest #openpit lithium mine, but will allow them to amend their complaint against the U.S. government.
"In the meantime, construction at #LithiumNevada’s mine near the #Nevada - #Oregon border will continue. Major construction on the lithium mine is scheduled to start in 2024, while production is expected to begin in late 2026, say Lithium Nevada officials.
"In the order, filed earlier this month, U.S. District Judge #MirandaDu dismissed the tribe’s claim that the mine’s approval violates federal preservation law and land policy.
"#Du ruled the three Native American tribes’ failed to prove that the #BureauOfLandManagement did not adequately consult with them, as required by the National Historic Preservation Act, which gives tribes the right to consultation when a project affects areas of #religious or #cultural significance.
"However, the judge gave the tribes a month to amend their complaint, which claims construction of the lithium mine in #ThackerPass near the sacred site of a 1865 massacre violates #FederalLaw.
"The three litigating tribes — #SummitLake #Paiute Tribe, #RenoSparks Indian Colony, and #BurnsPaiute Tribe — refer to Thacker Pass as “Peehee mu’huh” which translates to 'rotten moon' in honor of their ancestors who were massacred by the U.S. Cavalry in 1865 in an area of the pass shaped like a moon.
"In a ruling in 2021, Judge Du said evidence presented by the tribes that a massacre took place in Thacker Pass 'further highlights the shameful history of the treatment of #NativeAmericans by federal and state governments' but 'does not definitely establish that a massacre occurred' within the proposed project site.
"All three tribes claimed the BLM withheld crucial information from relevant agencies and #misrepresented the extent of the agency’s tribal consultation before approving the lithium mine project.
"The government dismissed those claims by arguing they have satisfied federal law by consulting with relevant tribes prior to approving the mine, and by continuing that consultation with tribes after the mine’s approval.
"Du agreed with the government’s argument and dismissed the tribe’s legal challenge, but left room for the tribes to amend their complaint related to the #NationalHistoricPreservationAct and further explain their claim that the BLM was legally required to complete the consultation process before approving the project. Du also gave the tribes space to amend their claim on how the government might have violated the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.
"Part of the tribe’s lawsuit seeking to block construction of the mine is still pending at the 9th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals, where oral arguments will be heard in February [2024].
"Will Falk, representing the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and Summit Lake Paiute Tribe, said consultation should have been completed before construction began to avoid or mitigate harm to the sacred site.
"Tribal attorney’s on the case are still considering whether to amend the complaint by the Dec. 9 deadline or focus on their pending appeal, said Falk.
"'We are very disappointed that the court is allowing Lithium Nevada to destroy the site of an 1865 massacre of Paiute peoples and a whole Traditional Cultural District before the Bureau of Land Management finished consulting with tribes,' Falk said. 'While #ClimateChange is a very real, existential threat, if government agencies are allowed to rush through permitting processes to fast-track destructing mining projects like the one at Thacker Pass, more of the #NaturalWorld and more Native American culture will be destroyed.'
"The new ruling is the latest in a series of legal setbacks for opponents of the lithium mine. Over the summer, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to vacate federal land managers’ approval of a lithium mine, ruling that the U.S. government took a sufficiently 'hard look' at the project’s impacts before approving it.
"Before that, Du also ruled largely in favor of Lithium Nevada and the Bureau of Land Management in a consolidated case involving claims brought by environmental groups, a local rancher, and two Native American tribes.
"'We’ve dedicated more than a decade to community engagement and hard work in order to get this project right, and the courts have again validated the efforts by Lithium Americas and the administrative agencies,' said Tim Crowley, the vice president of government and community relations for Lithium Nevada, in a statement."
#NativeAmericanHistory #CulturalGenocide #RespectTheTreaties #LithiumAmericas #OpenPitMining
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‘We were not consulted’: #NativeAmericans fight #lithium mine on site of 1865 massacre
by Michael Sainato
Fri 13 Oct 2023"[T]he process for mining lithium is rife with #environmental impacts. Production of a ton of lithium carbonate produces three times the emissions of producing a ton of steel on average, and uses a huge amount of #water. The #ThackerPass lithium project is expected to use 1.7bn gallons of water annually to produce 60,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate a year.
"A lawsuit filed by the #RenoSparks Indian Colony and the #SummerLake #Paiute Tribe is still pending in court against the project to recognize Thacker Pass as a cultural district. Another lawsuit filed by a rancher, four environmental groups, and two other Native American tribes was ruled in favor of the project and an appeal was lost in July 2023.
"Michon Eben, the tribal historic preservation officer for the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, said she submitted the petition report to the #BureauOfLandManagement in February but has not heard any movement on it from the agency.
"She said the regional office still has not turned it into the National Park Service to review, respond, and put it on the national register. She also criticized the federal agency for not addressing these issues in the environmental impact statement for the mining project.
"'That’s upsetting, because while they’re holding the report, the traditional cultural district has been destroyed. Because #LithiumAmericas is out there, they’re doing ground-disturbing activities in the area, which we state is a traditional cultural district,' said Eben. 'So, if any tribes or anybody wanted to mitigate that destruction, what are we going to mitigate?'
"Between 1864 to 1868, there were concerted efforts by the federal government to massacre Native Americans in the Great Basin area, a part of history not taught in schools and often ignored, Eben said.
“'The world needs to know that an important historical event occurred there, and that the Bureau of Land Management is not following the National Historic Preservation Act, one of the federal laws that has to be followed during a project like this. They failed to conduct an ethnography with Paiute and #Shoshone people,' added Eben."
#NativeAmericanHistory #WaterIsLife #LithiumNevada #LithiumMining #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterProtectors #EnvironmentalJustice #ClimateJustice
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#Paiute #Shoshone Court Date is Friday for Defending Massacre Site from #LithiumAmericas
May 31, 2023
Ox Sam Camp, #ThackerPass, Nevada: "I would like to ask all of you out there to kindly share this for my fellow sister warrior descendant, she stands here for her lineage through her great great grandfather Ox Sam whose family was massacred here at Thacker Pass also known as Peehee Muhu which is translated as Rotten Moon.
Due to recent events of her being served a TPO that is restricting her from accessing her Rights to her unmarked ancestral burial grounds and sacred site at Sentinel Rock by #LithiumAmerica Corporation. She now has to go back and forth to #Winnemucca 150 miles round trip where the court is being held and conducted which adds up a lot of miles and she is still looking for a Nevada attorney preferably pro indigenous rights for her legal issues filed by Lithium America a Canadian Based Corporation. So we're kindly asking you all to share these links to try and get her all the help we can do for her and to help her along as we continue to shed light and love on the current happenings at PeeHee Muhu Ox Sam Camp. (Newe Momokonee Nokutun)
Thank you for Very Much."The legal hearing for Dorece, Chuck, Paul, and Max is now scheduled for Friday (June 2nd) at 1:30 pm in Winnemucca. We're asking the court for an extension but it may not be granted. So that's our timeline for now. I'm not sure if supporters will be allowed in the courtroom, but if anyone wants to come out and support us feel free (although I wouldn't want to take people away from camp). For now, that's our deadline for legal representation. The situation is evolving. Thank you."
#SaveThackerPass #CulturalGenocide #IndigenousNews #EnvironmentalRacism #OxSamCamp #Frontline #Biodiversity #Solidarity #Help #Nevada #Environment #Climate #DirectAction #ProtectPeeheeMuhuh #LithiumNevada #LithiumMining #OpenPitMining #OpenPit #Mining
More at:
https://www.facebook.com/Drone.nation2017Via Censored News:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/05/paiute-shoshone-court-date-is-friday.html -
Now! #Pauite Blocking #LithiumMine Construction at #ThackerPass, Nevada
Protect Peehee Mu'huh!
April 25, 2023
"#FortMcDermitt and #PyramidLake Pauite are offering prayers, and blocking construction by #LithiumAmericas of Canada at the Pauite Massacre Site in northern Nevada."
#NativeAmericans #IndigenousNews #StopThackerPass
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/04/now-paiute-blocking-lithium-mine.html -
#GeneralMotors moves deeper into mining with #EnergyX #lithium investment
By Ernest Scheyder, April 11, 2023
"The EnergyX investment comes after GM in January agreed to pay $650 million to become the largest shareholder in #LithiumAmericas Corp (LAC.TO), which is developing the #ThackerPass clay lithium project in Nevada."
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BREAKING! Judge affirms stricter interpretation of federal mining law
By SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press, April 13, 2023
RENO, Nev. (AP) — "Another judge has adopted a U.S. appellate court's stricter interpretation of a century-and-a-half-old mining law in a new ruling that blocks a metals mine in Nevada. The ruling could have ramifications for a huge #lithium mine near the Nevada-Oregon line and other future mines on public lands across the West.
"Environmentalists say Hicks' ruling bodes well for their #ThackerPass appeal.
"'It's very significant,' said Roger Flynn, a longtime attorney for the Colorado-based Western Action Mining Project representing the Great Basin Resource Watch and others in lawsuits challenging both the molybdenum and lithium mines."
#LithiumMining #LithiumAmericas #SaveThackerPass #IndigenousNews
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#LithiumAmericas and Biden Violating Sacred Ground at #Pauite Massacre Site on #ThackerPass
by Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 17, 2023
Hazardous chemicals, around-the-clock trucks, hundreds of them carrying toxic materials, and a rail train will destroy this pristine and sacred region
#NativeAmericans #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #IndigenousNews #Mining #OpenPit
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/03/lithium-americas-and-biden-violating.html -
#Construction is under way at the #ThackerPass #lithium #mine in northern #Nevada after a federal court denied opponents’ requests for an injunction.
#LithiumAmericas - a #mining company headquartered in #Vancouver , #Canada , said in a news release this month that workers were #drilling at the site and building infrastructure, including water #pipelines .#Indigenous #Ecocide #CorporateGreed #GreedKills #BlameCanada #NativeLand #exploitation #crapitalism
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Definition, Examples, and Environmental Impact
By Rebecca Coffey, Updated July 26, 2022
"Environmentally, open-pit mining is devastating. It consumes enormous amounts of water, heavily pollutes water and air, disfigures landscapes, and permanently destroys habitat. Even after pits are exhausted and sites are rehabilitated, the pit area retains elevated risks of #erosion and #flooding.
"Heavy clouds of dust form during mining operations. Blasting alone is an enormous piece of the problem. In 2018 an international team of scientists publishing in E3S Web of Conferences reported that about 10 billion cubic meters of rock are exploded annually. The resulting clouds transport about 2.0-2.5 million tons of dust.
"The dust from drilling and blasting at some mines is highly radioactive. This is the case, for example, at uranium mines. The problem is not limited to well-known radioactive ores, however, as all ores are #radioactive to some degree.
"Even when it’s not radioactive, dust containing heavy metals can be very dangerous. When it is breathed it can create a variety of respiratory problems including black lung disease.
"The explosives used in blasting release fumes rich in #smog- and #AcidRain-producing gases like highly toxic nitrogen dioxide. As far back as 1973 Soviet scientists reported that the smog can form in the pits themselves.In 2019 Chinese scientists reported that a mine-produced hydrochloric acid mist was caustic enough to corrode concrete.
" One of the most significant problems in open pit mining is also endemic to underground mining. The mineral pyrite is often found in coal mines. It contains sulfur. When pyrite is exposed and sulfur reacts with air and water, it forms an acid. Acidic water as well as any rock-bound heavy metals that the acid has dissolved leach out of the mines and into nearby rivers, lakes, and streams, killing aquatic life and making the water unusable.
"A 2021 study in the peer-reviewed journal Ecological Applications showed the elimination of 40% of the marine animal species in 93 bodies of water downstream from an area of Appalachia that has multiple open-pit mines. Especially problematic in relation to coal mining, acid mine drainage can continue for hundreds of years, even long after the mine has closed."
#OpenPit #Environment #Pollution #WaterIsLife #LithiumNevada #LithiumAmericas #Lithium #ThackerPass #WaterIsLife #PeeheeMuhuh #ProtectThackerPass
Read more:
https://www.treehugger.com/what-is-open-pit-mining-definition-and-environmental-impact-5219892 -
Construction begins on controversial #lithium mine in #Nevada
Opponents say the Thacker Pass lithium project was rushed in the name of the green transition.
by Gabriela Aoun Angueira, March 3, 2023
"'It’s an important place not only because a terrible massacre occurred, but also because it’s a place where people gather, it’s a place for ceremony, for hunting,' said Michon Eben, tribal historic preservation officer for the Reno Sparks Indian Colony, a government that includes members from the the #Paiute, #Shoshone and #Washoe tribes. The colony is advocating for Peehee Mu’huh to be on the National Register of Historic Places. 'It’s really hard to be a tribal member and see our homelands destroyed,' said Eben.
"#ThackerPass also comprises thousands of acres of #sagebrush and is a nesting ground for the sage grouse and a migration corridor for pronghorn #antelope. Environmental groups including the Great Basin Resource Watch and Western Watersheds Project say the mine would cause irreversible #ecological damage, and that the project’s impact was not adequately studied.
"'It got by the environmental impact statement process in just under a year and I would expect a project of this scale and complexity to take 3 to 5 years,' said John Hadder, director of Great Basin Resource Watch. 'That’s sloppy permitting on the side of the federal government.'
"Tribes, #environmental groups and a cattle rancher are all plaintiffs in a combined case against the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, and #LithiumNevada, a subsidiary of #LithiumAmericas. On February 6, a federal judge in Reno ruled that the BLM had complied with federal law in approving the mine, with the exception of one matter regarding waste disposal, which the judge ordered the BLM to revisit. The plaintiffs filed an appeal in the 9th Circuit and an emergency motion to block construction before the appeal hearing. The appeals court rejected the injunction and set the hearing date for June. "
https://grist.org/climate-energy/construction-begins-lithium-mine-nevada-controversial/
#PeeheeMuhuh #NotGreen #EnvironmentalRacism #NativeAmericans
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Three tribes file new lawsuit challenging #ThackerPass lithium mine
by Jeniffer Solis, February 21, 2023
"A week after a federal judge closed a lawsuit against federal land managers and a mining developer, three Native American tribes have filed a new lawsuit centered on the largest known source of #lithium in the United States.
"The new lawsuit comes after U.S. District Judge Miranda Du ruled largely in favor of #Canada-based #LithiumAmericas and the Bureau of Land Management in a consolidated case involving claims brought by environmental groups, a local rancher, and two #NativeAmerican tribes.
"Both tribes involved in the previous lawsuit—the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and Burns Paiute Tribe— joined the new lawsuit along with the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe.
"'When the decision was made public on the previous lawsuit last week, we said we would continue to advocate for our sacred site PeeHee Mu’Huh. A place where prior to colonization, all our Paiute and Shoshone ancestors lived for countless generations,' said Arlan Melendez, Chairman of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony in a statement. 'It’s a place where all #Paiute and #Shoshone people continue to #pray, gather medicines and food, honor our non-human relatives, honor our water, honor our way of life, honor our ancestors.'"
#EnvironmentalRacism #CulturalGenocide -
#LithiumAmericas Receives Favorable Ruling on Record of Decision for #ThackerPass
"The Federal Court rejected arguments that the Project will cause unnecessary and undue degradation to the local sage grouse population and habitat, groundwater aquifers and air quality; that the BLM [Bureau of Land Management] failed to adequately assess the Project’s impacts on air quality, wildlife and groundwater; that the BLM failed to adequately consider the Project’s impacts to culturally or religiously significant areas; and that BLM acted unreasonably or in bad faith in identifying tribes for consultation before approving the Project."
#NativeAmericans #Indigenous #IndigenousRights #LandBack #EnvironmentalRacismhttps://finance.yahoo.com/news/lithium-americas-receives-favorable-ruling-113000989.html
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Lithium Americas meets with Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone
They are beginning to destroy the land. The legality of this is questionable, but they are doing it anyway. And BLM (Bureau of Land Management) is allowing them to do it.
by Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Feb 9 2023
"While some Fort McDermitt #Paiute and #Shoshone are meeting with #LithiumAmericas, promising benefits today -- #Winnemucca elderly and disabled are living at Motel 6. Grandmothers evicted with their grandchildren said they have been evicted from their homes to make way for #lithium mine housing."#NativeAmericans #Indigenous #IndigenousRights #LandBack #EnvironmentalRacism
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/02/now-lithium-americas-meeting-with-fort.html#more