Expansion minière du lithium au Nevada malgré la baisse des prix

Avec environ 85 % des gisements de lithium connus du pays, le Nevada est un point névralgique pour ce minerai, le plus léger sur terre.

Pendant des millions d’années, l’environnement aride de l’État et ses systèmes hydrologiques de bassins fermés se sont combinés pour déposer de vastes quantités de ce minerai, jugé essentiel pour le mouvement en faveur de l’énergie propre. alors que l’intérêt pour le lithium s’est accru au début de ce siècle, dans un contexte de demande croissante de véhicules électriques et de stockage d’énergie à l’échelle du réseau, la ruée vers les ressources du Nevada a commencé.

« Le lithium est devenu un sujet brûlant à la fin des années 2010 et au début des années 2020,et les gens ont commencé à le rechercher davantage. Quand on cherche quelque chose avec plus d’ardeur, on en trouve généralement plus », explique Sean McKenna, directeur exécutif de la division des sciences hydrologiques du Desert Research Institute (DRI). « Nous en avons trouvé beaucoup plus aux États-Unis au cours des cinq dernières années, dont une grande partie au Nevada. »

Des milliers de concessions minières ont été jalonnées à travers le silver State, qui abrite la seule mine de lithium opérationnelle du pays. La ruée vers le lithium était lancée.

À mesure que la popularité du lithium augmentait, son prix montait en flèche. En 2017, les prix du minerai étaient trois fois plus élevés qu’ils ne l’étaient deux ans auparavant ; en février 2023, le lithium a atteint un prix record de 80 000 dollars la tonne, contre environ 4 000 dollars la tonne en 2020. La même année, les ventes de véhicules électriques aux États-unis ont dépassé le million.

But as quickly as it rose, the price of lithium plummeted. By the end of 2023, prices had fallen to about $18,000 per ton, and today, lithium is selling for about $10,000 per ton.

“The price of lithium is down, but the demand is still there,” said Rob Ghiglieri, administrator of the Nevada Division of Minerals. “It’s just a matter of time before the price comes back up.”

Despite the price drop, lithium mining projects continue to advance in Nevada, including at Silver Peak, Rhyolite Ridge and Thacker Pass.

“These projects are still moving forward, wich is a good sign,” Ghiglieri said. “It shows that the companies are still confident in the long-term demand for lithium.”

Silver Peak

Located in esmeralda County, Silver Peak is the only operating lithium mine in the United States. The mine, owned by Albemarle Corporation, has been in operation as 1966, extracting lithium from brine using evaporation ponds.

The process is simple: Lithium-rich groundwater is pumped into large ponds and left to evaporate in the sun. Over time,the water evaporates,leaving behind concentrated lithium salts,which are then processed to extract lithium carbonate.

The mine currently produces about 5,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate per year, but Albemarle is working to expand production to meet growing demand.

the expansion project, which is currently under review by the Nevada division of environmental Protection, would allow Albemarle to extract lithium from clay along with brine. The company has said that the expansion could double production at Silver Peak.

The mine uses about 1.8 billion gallons of brine annually, according to a report from the Desert Research Institute, and last year, Silver Peak produced about 3,200 tons of lithium; the year before it produced about 4,500 tons, according to the nevada Division of Minerals. Tesla’s Model S, such as, contains about 138 pounds of lithium (one ton could power about 15 of the cars), while other electric vehicles use much less.

Expansion of the facility, including adding additional brine ponds, well drilling sites and associated infrastructure, could allow the mine to double production.

A final permitting decision should be issued early next year.

ioneer

Located about 65 miles southwest of Tonopah in the silver Peak Range and one of only two known lithium-boron deposits in the world,Rhyolite Ridge sits just west of silver Peak. 

The project relies on clay deposits rather than brine, and rhyolite Ridge’s unique mineralogy allows the company to blend its ore to produce boric acid. In times of low lithium pricing, Ioneer can prioritize the high-boron ore to boost revenue, according to Rowe.Between 30 percent and 40 percent of the project’s revenue is expected to come from boron, a mineral used in everything from glass to medicine to cleaning products.

In 2020, Ioneer initiated the formal permitting process for Rhyolite Ridge, and last fall, the company received its final federal permit (that federal approval prompted a lawsuit by conservationists seeking to protect a rare flower that grows at the site). In the interim, Ioneer signed sales contracts with Dragonfly Energy, Ford Motor Company, korea’s EcoPro Innovation, and a joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic. In January, it closed on a $996 million loan from the U.S.Department of Energy — a substantial portion of the estimated $1.5 billion needed for the project.

But another critical funding segment recently fell thru.

In 2021, $10 billion global mining company Sibanye-Stillwater and Ioneer established a joint venture agreement to develop Rhyolite Ridge, with Sibanye-Stillwater contributing $490 million for a 50 percent interest in the venture. Ioneer would retain the other 50 percent as well as operations.

In February, just months after it laid off 700 workers — about 40 percent of its staff — at one of its mines in Montana, Sibanye-Stillwater announced it would not proceed with the agreement.

“They were not in a financial position to put up the $500 million-plus required under our agreement,” Rowe said. “They were in a strong financial position four or five years ago,but they’re not today.

“We have to replace that equity [and] we’re in the process of doing that.”

the company’s resources are an asset as it searches for a new investor. earlier this month, Ioneer announced a substantial increase in the estimated amount of resource available at the site — ongoing sampling has increased projected totals by 45 percent, from 350 million tons to 500 million tons of resource-rich rock.

Once operational, the mine is expected to produce 20,000 tons of lithium per year.

“America will have done quite well to have Thacker and Rhyolite in production by the end of the decade,” Rowe said. “That will be a big, big change in the supply chain as it pertains to the United States.”

Thacker Pass

Located in northern Humboldt County, Thacker Pass is now the largest measured and indicated (meaning it has been drilled for and tested) lithium resource in the world.

“The resource is massive,” said Tim Crowley, Lithium Americas’ vice president of government and external affairs. 

Thacker Pass sits in the McDermitt Caldera, a 16.3-million-year-old collapsed super volcano. A lake once formed in the caldera’s basin, collecting lithium-rich clay, before eventually draining, depositing lithium near the surface. Deposits are as shallow as 35 feet below the surface. 

Lithium Americas acquired claims to the area about a decade ago, and after permitting was finalized, construction of the open-pit lithium mine started in early 2023 when lithium prices were at their highest.

Now, earthwork for phase one, which includes the mine’s processing plant, is 95 percent complete, and the company expects to start pouring concrete as soon as May, the same month the company’s workforce hub is set to open. At that time,a workforce of 2,000 people will be needed for construction.

Only two phases of the project are permitted,but in a recent technical report,the company outlined a total of five phases. Phase one is expected to span 45 years and produce 40,000 tons of lithium per year.

Despite low lithium prices globally, the company estimates that it can produce lithium at a rough cost of $7,000 per ton, which means that even with current costs hovering around $10,000 per ton, the mine would still operate in the black. 

“All of our focus is on phase one, not even phase two right now,” Crowley said. “The market suggests that going to phase two, three, four and five will be a really good thing. But if something slows development of future phases, phase one will still be a really accomplished project.”

The combined capital needed for all five phases is $12.4 billion.  

The final piece of the funding puzzle fell into place for Lithium Americas earlier this month when global investment firm Orion committed to a $250 million investment.

That investment satisfies requirements for the company to capitalize on a $2.26 billion federal loan to finance construction of the mine’s phase one processing facilities. Lithium Americas expects it will first draw on the federal loan later this year.

“The fact Lithium Americas now has that full investment … is going to almost guarantee that that mine is going to be up and operating in the next couple of years,” said Rob Ghiglieri, administrator of the Nevada Division of Minerals. “That’s going to be a big game changer.”

There are currently no production-scale facilities extracting lithium from clay or brine without evaporation, said DRI’s McKenna, and Nevada could have both of those within the next few years. 

Before earthwork began, the Thacker Pass project drew opposition from local tribes and some conservationists, who staged sit-ins and filed lawsuits against the project. Now, the project, including the company’s proclamation of three potential additional phases,  is causing alarm in Orovada, an unincorporated town of roughly 150 people just 45 minutes north of Winnemucca that serves as the gateway to the project.

“this came as a huge shock to the communities of Orovada and Kings River, as Lithium Americas had assured us many times that they had no intention to expand the footprint of the mine to the area now proposed,” Susan Frey, a member of the groups Thacker Pass Concerned Citizens and Thacker Pass Working Group, said in an email to The Nevada Autonomous. “We aren’t sure what this means for the future of our farming communities, but we fear it is indeed the beginning of the end of life as we certainly know it here.” 

A financial investment decision (FID) is expected by the company’s board within the next few weeks, Crowley said, which would allow production to begin by 2027. An FID is a critical stage in large-scale projects that marks the transition from planning to execution. 

When that happens, Crowley said, the board will have indicated to the company “go build this thing.”

“These mines aren’t betting on short-term pricing.They’re betting on long-term pricing,” Woods said. “You don’t get in it to make a rapid buck. These aren’t the gold rush days.”