You may not know exactly what lithium is, but your life probably wouldn’t be the same without it. The lightweight metal is the secret ingredient in the batteries that power everything from phones and tablets to solar panels and electric vehicles. And while it’s relatively abundant, the United States produces less than 1% of the global supply today—far behind world leaders like Australia, Chile and China.
Nevada, which has some of the largest lithium deposits in the world, is at the center of the national push to shore up that gap. It currently produces all of the country’s raw lithium from a single site in Esmeralda County, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. But more projects are in the works. By late 2027, a massive new mine near the state’s northern border is expected to start producing eight times as much annually—or enough to power 800,000 electric vehicles.
But that $3 billion project, known as Thacker Pass, has also become a flashpoint. Last fall, the Trump administration restructured a Biden-approved $2.26 billion loan to Lithium Americas—the Canadian company developing it—in exchange for a 5% equity stake. The move raised questions about government overreach and who really stands to gain from a future lithium boom. It’s also located on land that’s considered sacred by Indigenous tribes, while construction has triggered disputes over water rights and environmental concerns.
Tim Crowley, vice president of government and external affairs at Lithium Americas and a native Nevadan, says the company has handled these challenges responsibly. The company reached a private water settlement with a local rancher in August and committed more than $5 million to help the nearby Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe build a community center. In Crowley’s perspective, Nevada is at the precipice of a new mining frontier, and Thacker Pass is a crucial benchmark.
“As a country, we’re not even really on the playing field right now,” Crowley says. “We make about 5,000 tons of lithium carbonate a year now, all in Nevada. Thacker Pass will produce about 40,000 tons a year, but it still doesn’t fulfill the U.S. needs. We’re going to need many more projects, but materially, it’s a big step in the right direction.”
WHAT IT MEANS FOR NEVADA
Gov. Joe Lombardo sees an opportunity to diversify Nevada’s economy, noting last year that lithium represents “salvation for the state.” In a joint September statement with Nevada Rep. Mark Amodei, the pair called Thacker Pass “the single most significant opportunity to build a secure, reliable North American lithium supply chain.”
It helps that Nevada is already active in all seven stages of that supply chain—from exploration and mining to manufacturing and recycling. According to a 2022 report by UNLV researchers, the state employs more than 9,000 across the entire process, including over 60% of the nation’s lithium-ion battery jobs. That number could soon surge, as the report estimates that the global battery industry will grow to $115 billion by 2030—a 422% increase from 2020.
As CEO of the Nevada-based American Battery Technology Company—which both refines lithium and recycles batteries—Ryan Melsert has front row seats to the supply chain.
“We’re getting close to being self-sustaining on the vehicle and battery manufacturing side. But for the materials that go into the batteries, there’s close to zero production in the U.S.,” he says. “It’s just about addressing that imbalance, because right now it’s kind of created a bottleneck for facilities that aren’t able to source their minerals domestically.”
Projects like Thacker Pass, which Crowley says will staff 350 full-time employees when it opens, plus another mine called Rhyolite Ridge that was approved in 2024 but has yet to start construction, will also indirectly spur additional job growth in other sectors of Nevada’s lithium industry.
To prepare for that future, state officials have supported major initiatives like the University of Nevada Reno’s Nevada Tech Hub, which awarded $15.5 million in grants last year to help build a talent pipeline that can meet Nevada’s current and future lithium needs.
“I absolutely think the potential is there for [Nevada] to become a world leader,” deputy director Jennifer Ott says. “We have a lot of great companies that are working in all parts of the supply chain, but we also do have some gaps. Historically, this has been a global industry. Now, the focus really is on trying to see if all of that can be domestic.”
TRIBAL OPPOSITION
Not everyone is convinced the benefits of the lithium economy are evenly distributed.
Shelley Harjo, former treasurer of the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe, says the land at Thacker Pass—known to her people as Peehee Mu’huh—is worth far more than money. It includes the now-sacred site of an 1865 massacre of their sleeping ancestors by the U.S. army.
“It was once used as a prayer place, as a lookout for scouts and for obsidian to make tools for our people,” Harjo says. “It’s like a graveyard to us now.”
She says Thacker Pass continues to divide the tribe’s 1,200 members, including the 300 or so who live on an impoverished reservation that lacks both significant economic drivers and sustainable water infrastructure. Some believe the infusion of funds from Lithium Americas could offer relief, but Harjo isn’t sure.
“My people are the ones that are in the sacrifice zone right now, and many don’t even know it, because a lot of them don’t necessarily get off of the reservation,” she says. “That mentality of economic viability has clouded some of our people’s minds. We’re dealing with outside entities who want to come in and destroy our land—offering us pennies while they’re taking out billions.”
Crowley says that Lithium Americas continues to work with the tribe in good faith. In December, they renegotiated a 2022 community benefits agreement with tribal leaders to allow them to utilize the company’s $5 million contribution to potentially bring in far more than just the originally planned community center and childcare facility. Ideas include healthcare services, senior housing and rebuilding its lone gas station, which burned down in 2020. Crowley believes that plan is viable.
Still, Harjo’s concerns extend to how the project could impact the environment and the tribe’s long-term health.
“We know what a little bit of lithium could do to the body, but we don’t really know what a lot more could do. We’ve already got a high rate of cancer, and I also worry about the water, land and air contamination,” she says.
WHAT’S NEXT?
As work on Thacker Pass continues, Crowley says some challenges remain. Trump’s tariffs have increased costs and forced the company to tap into additional funding sources. Meanwhile, Trump’s decision to end the federal electric vehicle tax credit program last summer has driven U.S. demand for EVs down at a time when the international market is still “red hot.”
It’s also difficult to get a new project off the ground in the first place. Thacker Pass was in the works for nearly 20 years before the federal investment and a $900 million partnership with General Motors made construction possible.
“Nevada is absolutely the heart of U.S. battery development,” Crowley says. “We’ve got all the components here, but I think it’s important for the public to know this is not a one-year endeavor. It takes decades.”
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