rkeep, I found it interesting that on the same page as this article there was an advertisement advising the reader to " GO Solar".  Any reference to solar electricity production carries with it the question of how to store it and lithium ion batteries are still a very important part of ESU production, Energy Storage Units.

As for the objections listed in this article by the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, it looks like those objections tie right into the question of whether or not Lithium Nevada will be a "negotiating" mining company or a "non-negotiating" mining company relative to the issues at Thacker Pass.  All is not necessarily what it is dressed up to be and there may be a lack of complete unity among the residents of the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe on the issue of Thacker Pass.  I have no inside knowledge one way or the other as to whether there is unanimity in the positon of all members of the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, but I don't think there is much doubt that the better position for Lithium Nevada and LAC is to reach out to the tribe.  I know that early on there were efforts by LAC to incorporate training for some tribal members so that they could be trained to take up employment opportunities with the Thacker Pass mine once it became a reality.  I don't know how those efforts turned out, whether they were readily embraced by members of the tribe or whether they were rejected.  

On the surface of the objections presented in that article it would seem that some of the obstacles from the standpoint of the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe were non-negotiable, however that may not be the case at all and the only way to know is to reach out in a spirit of respect for those real objections to see if some compromise solution might be applicable in this situation.  The first part of that effort is to show respect for legitimate concerns of the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe.  If clear beneficial measures to the members of the Fort McDermitt Paiutee-Shoshone Tribe are made available by LAC as a counter weight to their concerns then the goal of Alexi Zawadzki for Nevada Lithiium to be a "Good Neighbor" may be made an actuality.  Certainly the goal of Nevada Lithium to work with the tribe, if the tribe is convinced that goal is genuine, would be vastly helpful in ameliorating any friction that currently exists.  I again refer to the experience of LAC in Jujuy Province of Argentina where LAC was categorized in an academic article as one of the few "negotiating" mining companies in the 3 northern Provinces of Argentina.  Hopefully someone will be able to print the same conclusion about Nevada Lithium in the future and to praise the efforts of Nevada Lithium to interface with the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe.

If communication efforts between Dr. Zawadzki and the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe have deteriorated since those early efforts by LAC to incorporate tribal members into the Thacker Pass employment pool then it behooves LAC and Nevada Lithium to renew those efforts and heal any real or supposed existing wounds.  46 years for the mine to be open is a long, long time period and creating an atmosphere inimical to being a "Good Neighbor" is far from conducive to the operation of the mine in a manner consistent with the best interest of both LAC and its native american neighbors.  What LAC does now to smooth through this transition period prior to constuction and production at Thacker Pass has implications for decades to come in Humboldt County.

I am not talking about the self righteous braying of "environmental activists" such as Mr. Wilbert and his DGR far left organization.  The DGR simply sees the views of the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe as a convenient vehicle to latch on to in order to achieve the much broader and destructive views of the DGR.  Wilbert and the DGR will paint themselves as a wholly committed ally of the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, when in fact Wilbert and the DGR see their aliance only through the circumstance of seredipity and convenience to their own inimical causes, not as benefactors for the tribe except by convenient circumstance.

Wilbert and the DGR will simply move on to the next "cause celebri" when the dust settles on the situation at Thacker Pass, but the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe will be there for ages after the proposed close of mine date for the Thacker Pass Project.  They require the respect that is due their concerns.

JMO, but I hope Nevada Lithium puts action into words with Zawadzki's "Good Neighbor" statement regarding the locals of Humboldt County, Nevada.  If so, then the journey of 46 years of a proposed mine operation at Thacker Pass will be a much more comfortable period for all concerned.

Okiedo