An Australian mining company has been cited for endangering a 6-inch desert wildflower less than a week after the Department of Energy signed off on a $700 million conditional loan for the company to mine lithium in Nevada.
Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge LLC was slapped with a trespass notice by the Bureau of Land Management for disturbing the critical habitat of Tiehm’s buckwheat, a wildflower with yellow pom-pom blooms. The agency listed the flower last week as an endangered species and said the “disturbance” was forbidden under a permit it issued Ioneer Ridge LLC to drill at a proposed mine site that is likely to face massive pushback from environmental groups.
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The flower is only found in the United States and grows in lithium-rich soil — the very same soil that attracted Ioneer to the area.
BLM approved the company’s drilling plans last year but only on land outside of the 900-acre area pitched as critical habitat to protect the yellow flower. When the flower was put on the endangered species list, the company was faulted for using the area as a “laydown area” for equipment but added that most of it had been removed.
Ioneer said no plants had been harmed but admitted: “What occurred was a violation of BLM regulatory requirements.”
“We take full responsibility for the breach and sincerely regret the inadvertent noncompliance with the permit,” Ioneer Managing Director Bernard Rowe said in a statement. “Since day one, Ioneer has instructed our staff and contractors about the need to observe all permit conditions. We are investigating exactly how this failure occurred and we will take action to assure total compliance in the future.”
The BLM inspected the site on Jan. 13, following a complaint it received from conservationists who oppose the mine and petitioned for the flower’s protection under the Endangered Species Act.
“The BLM did the right thing here to hold Ioneer accountable for the harms it’s caused to the buckwheat’s critical habitat,” Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director for the Center for Biological Diversity, told the Associated Press. “It certainly calls into question whether Ioneer can adhere to the terms of any buckwheat protections they agree to for the mine.”
The company has stressed its commitment to protecting the local Tiehm’s buckwheat population. Company CEO James Calaway has estimated that Ioneer has spent about $1 million to conduct studies, build greenhouses, and hire botanists to protect the flower.
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Lithium is a critical ingredient for batteries used in consumer electronics and electric vehicles. The Trump administration had approved plans for a $1 billion mine at Nevada’s Thacker Pass, a 9-mile patch of government land that contains the country’s largest lithium deposit.
