Thanks, again, to Coeruleus for posting the link to the 20 October 2022 PR from Jon Evans, LAC CEO, about the CBA with the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe.

The PR is quite short and most of the salient points are excerpted below:

""We are pleased to have the support of the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe as we advance Thacker Pass towards construction and look forward to generations of future collaboration,” said Jonathan Evans, President and CEO. “The signing of the CBA is a testament to our Company’s commitment to go beyond our regulatory requirements and to form constructive relationships with the communities closest to our projects. We are focused on being a good neighbor, hiring locally and providing the job training to prepare Tribe members for long-term, family-supporting careers critical to developing a North American battery supply chain.”

"The CBA is a product of years of engagement, job training and relationship-building between the Company and the Tribe. The CBA provides the Tribe additional training and employment opportunities, and support for cultural education and preservation. Furthermore, the Company has agreed to build an 8,000 square feet community center for the Tribe that includes a daycare, preschool, playground, cultural facility and communal greenhouse to support reclamation efforts and provide income for the Tribe."

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For a frame of reference go back to the 2021 article by Alexi Zawadzki, President of North American Operations for LAC and CEO of Lithium Nevada.

Being good neighbors and good partners at Thacker Pass | Alexi Zawadzki (rgj.com)

Zawadzki: "We understand that certain local Native American tribes have a deep connection to the broader region, and we also understand how important it is to protect any culturally significant materials we may find. We have done and will continue to do extensive work to respect and safeguard this connection."

"Respecting the interests of Native American tribes is extremely important to us, which is why we have engaged with the Fort McDermitt Tribe since 2017. We have helped facilitate presentations to the council, job screenings of tribal members, workforce development training at Fort McDermitt, a trip for tribal representatives to the Navajo Nation coal mine in New Mexico to meet Thacker Pass’s mine operator, and the donation of a passenger van for the tribe’s Head Start program to transport members to Winnemucca for training opportunities."

"This partnership also stands to provide meaningful economic benefits. More than 40 members of the Fort McDermitt tribe have expressed interest in high-wage jobs that Thacker Pass will bring. We’re continuing to support job training through the BuildNV program run by Great Basin College, and we’re looking to employ as many locals as we can to fill the 300 full-time roles the mine will eventually support."

"We’ve always welcomed input from our neighbors, and in return we strive to communicate regularly and openly about our progress at Thacker Pass. It’s this neighborly approach to doing things right that will lead to cultural preservation, good jobs and exciting economic opportunity."

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There are many different opinions of LAC investors and LAC "Lookers" that span the spectrum regarding this "Good Neighbor" commitment by LAC and Lithium Nevada.  On the one end of the spectrum are those who view this commitment as nothing short of a bribe and that LAC is being held hostage by the greed and self interest of the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe.  On the other end of the spectrum would be anyone who feels that mining companies, LAC included, are by nature evil capitalistic enterprises that rape the land without any consideration of the damage that they leave in their wake for the affected indigenous population living in juxtaposition to that now violated land. 

Those at this opposing end of the spectrum of opinion no doubt will surmise that LAC,  Jon Evans and Alexi Zawadzki are merely espousing verbiage in the form of this CBA as a means to molify and appease an adversary otherwise blocking the path to the construction of the Thacker Pass Project.  The CBA might be perceived by that group of spectators as a "necessary evil".

Just an opinion, mine, but I will take Zawadzki and Evans at their words on this CBA situation.  I have always subscribed to the idea that the "Good Neighbor" approach by LAC and Lithium Nevada was the only viable path forward for a project with a mine life projected to be 40 something years in its entirety.  There was no benefit in moving forward in such a project by choosing an Admiral Farragut approach, advocated by many of the LAC investors, and exemplified by Farragut's famous exhortation at the battle of Mobile Bay:

"Damn the Torpedoes!  Full Speed ahead!"

Again, just an opinion (and not one that will be welcomed by all LAC investors,), but I believe that the  creation of the CBA between LAC and the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe is a positive step forward for both entities and something that LAC will be able to look back on for generations as a sterling achievement in the way that LAC engages indigenous communities located in juxtaposition to their mining activities.  

Of course, not everything is "Rosy".  It never is.  Life is always complicated.  In this situation the obvious question is what now will be the situation with the Reno Sparks Indian Colony and any other Native American entities that have entered into the fray?

Again, just a personal opinion, but my own feeling is that the focus of LAC should be on those tribes in true juxtaposition to their proposed mining project, otherwise might not the Cherokee Nation from Oklahoma que up for a similar CBA agreement with LAC?  How about the Oneida and Seneca tribes from the state of New York?  Ad infinitum???

Life has limits and this issue is no different.  I'm of the opinion that LAC should continue its "Good Neighbor" policy for those who truly are its neighbors at the proposed Thacker Pass Project, but broadening that horizon to groups beyond the scope of reason would serve as a precedent that is not justified.  I have the greatest respect for RSIC and their leadership, but they are not in juxtaposition to the proposed project.  They are truly a wonderful group of people at RSIC and in no way do I want to dismiss their concerns as being in part or in whole generated by greed.  Just the opposite.  I believe their concerns are very real in their view.  Unfortunately, they do risk the view of others in this situation as trying to seek an outcome for economic gain.  I think that conclusion would be vastly unfair to the people of RSIC, but it is a possible conclusion by those who do not know them.  It would be false conclusion, but harmful nonetheless.

Benefits to the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe may indeed generate some jealousy from other tribal units here in Nevada and they may ask themselves:  "Why were we not included in a CBA situation?"  Hopefully, in the long view a reassessment will occur and it will become self evident to all parties that the present CBA between LAC and the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe was the best solution and the more equitable one.  I believe it will stand the test of time.  JMO

Okiedo