The electric vehicle revolution needs lithium, and Thacker Pass has more of it than anywhere else in America. Buried in the clay soils of Humboldt County, Nevada, within the ancient McDermitt Caldera, lies 13.7 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, enough to supply batteries for 800,000 electric vehicles every year. General Motors has invested over $1.2 billion to secure access to this resource. The U.S. Department of Energy has taken a stake. Construction began in March 2023. Yet the land that holds this white gold is also claimed as sacred by multiple Indigenous nations, a place where Paiute and Shoshone communities have harvested traditional foods and medicines for generations. Thacker Pass has become a flashpoint where America's climate ambitions collide with Indigenous rights, environmental concerns, and uncomfortable questions about what it costs to build a greener future.
The lithium at Thacker Pass formed millions of years ago when volcanic activity created the McDermitt Caldera, a massive collapsed volcano straddling the Nevada-Oregon border. Mineral-rich waters deposited lithium into clay sediments over geological time, creating the largest known sedimentary lithium deposit in the United States. The ore grade averages 2,231 parts per million, modest by hard-rock mining standards but substantial for clay deposits. Lithium Nevada, a subsidiary of Lithium Americas Corp., plans to extract this lithium using a newly developed process involving sulfuric acid produced on-site. The company claims the mine will be carbon-neutral, generating its own electricity from the acid production process. The first phase alone aims to produce 40,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate annually.
Environmental reviews estimate the mine will consume 2,600 acre-feet of water annually in its first phase, rising to 5,200 acre-feet, approximately 1.7 billion gallons, when fully operational. A local rancher protested the transfer of water rights from Quinn River Valley crop irrigation to the mine, arguing it would harm his operation and the public interest. Nevada's State Engineer overruled the protest in February 2023 after developing a groundwater flow model. The mine also overlaps with big sagebrush habitat and known golden eagle breeding territories. Environmental groups argued that Thacker Pass provides critical winter habitat connecting the Double H Mountains to the Montana Mountains, calling it one of the last big blocks of the sagebrush sea free of development. They lost their court battle.
Thacker Pass is traditional homeland for multiple Indigenous nations: the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation, the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe, the Lovelock Paiute Tribe, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, and the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, among others. Some tribal members and activists have claimed the site is a massacre location called Peehee mu'huh in Paiute, though courts found insufficient evidence to support claims of a massacre within the mining area. Historical records reference an 1865 cavalry attack on Paiutes in the nearby Quinn River Valley, but its connection to Thacker Pass remains contested. Judge Miranda Du acknowledged the spiritual distress of tribal plaintiffs but ruled they had not demonstrated sufficiently specific irreparable harm. The Fort McDermitt Tribe, the community closest to the mine, signed a Community Benefits Agreement with Lithium Americas in October 2022.
Proponents frame Thacker Pass as essential to America's climate strategy. The mine could supply lithium for 800,000 electric vehicle batteries annually, reducing gasoline consumption by an estimated 317 million gallons per year. With transportation accounting for nearly 30% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, domestic lithium production offers a path toward cleaner energy that does not depend on foreign supply chains. Currently, the only large-scale U.S. lithium mine at Silver Peak, Nevada produces less than 5,000 tons annually, under 2% of global supply. Environmental professor Glenn Miller of the University of Nevada Reno called the Thacker Pass project relatively benign for its size and an important mitigation measure for climate change. Critics counter that blowing up a mountain for lithium is no better than blowing one up for coal.
Two members of Deep Green Resistance began occupying Thacker Pass the day the Bureau of Land Management approved the mine in January 2021. Over the following months, protests drew hundreds to rallies in Reno and brought Indigenous demonstrators from reservations across the region. The opposition fractured when tribal groups distanced themselves from activists linked to Deep Green Resistance. Legal challenges wound through the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ultimately deferred to the Bureau of Land Management's expertise in July 2023. By late 2023, all lawsuits had been dismissed. Construction proceeded. The conflict at Thacker Pass mirrors similar battles worldwide as the transition to renewable energy demands minerals from lands that Indigenous peoples call home. The mine will bring 300 jobs paying an average of $63,000 per year to rural Nevada. It will also transform a sagebrush valley forever.
Located at 41.71N, 118.05W in remote Humboldt County, Nevada, approximately 30nm west-northwest of Orovada. The site lies within the McDermitt Caldera, an ancient volcanic structure visible from altitude. Best viewed at 5,000-8,000 feet AGL to appreciate the scale of the project area and caldera geology. Nearest airports include Winnemucca Municipal (WMC) approximately 70nm to the south. This is extremely remote high desert terrain with limited services; maintain situational awareness and adequate fuel reserves. Clear weather recommended.