9th Circuit denies emergency bid to halt Nevada lithium mine

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} A federal appeals court has cleared the way for construction in Nevada of the largest lithium mine in the U.S. while it considers claims by conservationists and tribes that the government illegally approved it in a rush to produce raw materials for electric vehicle batteries. Environmentalists and tribes trying to block the project support efforts to bolster lithium supplies to build electric vehicle batteries and replace fossil fuels with renewables but they say this particular mine would destroy essential wildlife habitat and sacred cultural values. Opponents of Lithium Nevada Corp.’s project filed an emergency emotion with the 9th Circuit on Monday after U.S. District Judge Miranda Du in Reno rejected their latest request to put the case on hold until the San Francisco-based appellate court can hear their appeal. Judge Du “reasonably weighed the public interest and balance of harms, noting that the lithium from this mine is a critical component of electric vehicle batteries, and thus an important domestic resource for reducing greenhouse gas emissions," Biden administration officials representing BLM said in court filings Tuesday.