Thread by @NBCNews

The nation’s biggest lithium mine may operate on a site sacred to Native Americans. The project, approved by the Trump admin. on public land, has sparked outcry and a lawsuit, but opposition among Native Americans is not unanimous. #NBCNewsThreads (1/11) nbcnews.to/3Qn7kno

Thacker Pass, a remote valley in the high desert of northern Nevada, will always be sacred for Gary McKinney of the Paiute-Shoshone Tribe. He often visits to honor ancestors said to be killed here by U.S. soldiers in 1865. (2/11)

McKinney and others are now fighting a new battle over the open-pit mine planned for Thacker Pass, which sits atop a massive lode of lithium, which is vital to electric car batteries and renewable energy. (3/11)

Industry experts expect demand for lithium from U.S. car manufacturers to increase tenfold by 2030. By then, they predict the U.S. will need 300,000 metric tons of lithium per year to make green vehicles and a wealth of electronic appliances. (4/11)

The Bureau of Land Management approved the Thacker Pass project in 2021. Within four weeks, cattle rancher Edward Bartell filed a lawsuit that was soon joined by environmental groups, echoing his concerns about water use. (5/11)

“The bottom line is that any mine, especially an open-pit mine, is going to obliterate the habitat that’s there,” said John Hadder. “There’s automatically a hit to the environment, which by definition makes it not green.” (6/11)

Opponents of the mine draw on history to establish its spiritual importance to the Shoshone and Paiute people. McKinney says that tribal members go to Thacker Pass to gather roots, medicinal herbs and berries for traditional ceremonies and rituals. (7/11)

“When you come in and take those resources off the land you destroy it,” said Ky NoHeart. “We just want tribal lands to be left alone… all of the Indigenous people want the mine stopped.” (8/11)

But the protesters don’t speak for all the Native Americans in northern Nevada. Lithium Americas said that it had helped 11 members of the Fort McDermitt tribe get certifications necessary to work at the mine site, while more showed interest. (9/11)

A federal judge is expected to rule on the lawsuit by the environmental and tribal groups in August, which means Lithium Americas could start digging this fall. (10/11)

“If this goes up,” McKinney said, “then it’s a domino effect. The next one wants to go up, then the next, and the next until we have no land left.” (11/11)