Edward Bartell is an Orovada rancher. His family ranch neighbors the Thacker Pass project in Humboldt County.
I am writing in response to the recent hype in numerous newspapers about the alleged benefits the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine will contribute to Nevada’s economy. Lithium Americas Corporation (LAC), which is developing Thacker Pass, is aggressively hyping a study pointing to these alleged benefits.
What LAC fails to mention is this study was conducted last year before the complete price collapse and assumes lithium prices to be more than double what they actually are. The touted study assumes lithium prices to be $24,000 per metric ton.
Yet according to dailymetalprice.com lithium prices through September 2024 were below $11,000 per metric ton. The recent hype also fails to mention that LAC’s own feasibility study indicates that when lithium prices are at $12,000 per ton, Thacker Pass has a net present value of negative $623 million. While lithium prices skyrocketed in 2022, they have now returned to long-term levels, and Morgan Stanley is projecting a lithium oversupply through 2030.
For the rest of this column: https://thisisreno.com/2024/10/opinion-study-overstates-lithium-mining-benefits/