Just in case anyone has forgotten all the problems Ioneer has had with the "Center for Biological Diversity" and other environmental watchdog groups....this article reminds us of the hoops that Ioneer has to jump through in order to make its deal with Ford become a practical reality in the future:

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The Rhyolite Ridge project also made the news in 2021 over its potential impact on a rare wildflower known as Tiehm’s buckwheat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the rare plant, which only grows in Nevada’s high desert, as an endangered species.

“We have determined that Tiehm’s buckwheat is primarily at risk of extinction due to the destruction, modification or curtailment of its habitat and range from mineral exploration and development; road development and off-highway vehicle use, livestock grazing, nonnative, invasive plant species; and herbivory,” the Forest Service said back in October.

The Center for Biological Diversity remains opposed to Ioneer’s project at Rhyolite Ridge. The organization is responsible for petitioning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect Tiehm’s buckwheat. It also sued the Bureau of Land Management to protect the wildflower from mineral exploration activities, settling with the agency in 2020.

“Ford just bought extinction along with Ioneer’s lithium and needs to rethink this poor decision,“ said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity, in an e-mailed response. “There are many other lithium sources that won’t end up killing off a species. Electric vehicles don’t need to come at the cost of extinction.”

The organization also expects a final listing decision from the Fish and Wildlife Service this September, at which point the BLM has indicated that it may start moving forward with permitting and an environmental impact statement, Donnelly added. 

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Ioneer has its own battles to fight and undoubtedly its own day in Court ahead of it.  Makes you wonder how anything moves forward in the U.S. in reference to opening a new lithium mine to help supply all of those new EVs projected to be on the roadways across America in the next decade?  Better hope that the U.S. and China are still having good trade relations for years into the future if our "environmental activists" here in the U.S. are able to prevail in the U.S. legal system.  Sure brings to mind the expression: 

"Shooting oneself in the foot!!"

Okiedo