Jenny Kane

jkane@rgj.com

A Canadian-funded mining company has staked nearly 4,000 acres of Lithium mining claims on the Black Rock Desert playa, a high profile alkali flat used for the annual 68,000-person Burning Man celebration.

Between April and December last year, Nevada Energy Metals, LLC staked 199 claims in the southwest arm of the Black Rock Desert, according records from the Washoe County Recorder's Office. The claims are just east of Gerlach, a small mining town two hours north of Reno, and west of where Burning Man takes place.

The claims are south of the Black Rock-High Rock Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area protected and overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, though the claims still are on federal land. Anyone can make a mining claim, which equates to mineral rights but nothing else on federal land.

Fees, permits and a public process are necessary to break ground.

"​Right now we have not received a notice to work their claims nor have we received a plan of operations," said Mark Hall, assistant field manager for the BLM's Black Rock Field Office.

The claims were made after soil samples proved that the alkali flat had supplies of Lithium, a mineral found in groundwater and used most commonly for batteries and anti-anxiety medications. Nevada, which is believed to have a wealth of Lithium beneath its numerous playas across the state, has become a battleground state for junior mining companies seeking Lithium.

Nevada has been home to the only operational Lithium mine in the states since 1966, but the demand for Lithium exploded two years ago when Tesla announced that it would be building the Sparks-based Gigafactory. The Gigafactory is expected to be the largest Lithium-ion battery factory in the world by 2018.

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"There have been a lot of claims that have been made based on that very demand, just because of Tesla," said Russ Fields, director of the Mackey School of Earth Sciences and Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Nevada Energy Metals is one of about 25 companies that have made more than 10,500 Lithium claims in the past two years, according to Rich Perry, administrator for the Nevada Division of Minerals. Before 2015, there were hardly any Lithium claims in-state.

"We won't produce as much as Tesla needs, but it's great for the state," Perry said of Lithium mining potential in Nevada.

He noted that countries such as Chile, Bolivia and Argentina will remain the champions of Lithium, however, since they appear to have far greater supplies than Nevada.

While there are no current plans to mine the Black Rock Desert playa, the company may sit on the supply until an anticipated increase in demand for Lithium. Tests revealed that most samples taken in the claims are contained between 100 and 500 parts per million, although there is no industry standard for what a rich sample is.

"I don't know, to be honest. It's such a new field," Perry said of what makes a good Lithium prospect.

Already, the price for Lithium has skyrocketed in the past 24 months from about $4,000 per ton to $20,000, according to Perry.

It would take several years, however, for Nevada Energy Metals to pay the fees, acquire the environmental permits and go through the public process -- all required before mining begins if a company plans to work a plot that is 5 or more acres.

The mining process for Lithium has a minimal footprint, Perry said, noting that the mineral is evaporated from groundwater that already is non-potable and cannot be used for agriculture. The water is pulled up from a drilled well, but there are no open pits.

The Black Rock Desert area is no stranger to mining, as there are active operations for gypsum, gold and opal in the immediate area already.

In fact, Gerlach came to be because of the nearby mining operations, including the recently revived gypsum mining operation in Empire, a company-owned town that nearly became a ghost town after the mine and adjacent drywall plant temporarily closed in 2011. The mine and a portion of the plant re-opened in summer 2016, exciting many of the townsfolk of Gerlach.

Mining on the playa, however, would be upsetting to many of the locals who enjoy the fast driving, land sailing and gatherings that take place on the Black Rock Desert playa. Many of the tens of thousands of Burners who attend Burning Man consider the Black Rock Desert a magical place, and the nearby Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe considers secret areas of the Black Rock Desert to be sacred.