Nevada mining group pursues new leadership, goals

Lithium brine evaporation ponds at Albemarle's lithium mine in Silver Peak is seen in 2021. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal).
Nevada's mining industry is poised to be a crucial player in the energy section, and the state's leading trade organization has actually tapped a familiar face as it searches for a permanent leader.

Dana Bennett has actually been named interim president of the Nevada Mining Association, after acting as president of the organization from 2014 to 2020. She prospers Tyre Gray, who left the association in February to pursue other expert opportunities, according to NVMA.

Bennett stated there isn't a set timeline for when her replacement will be selected, and the main focus of the association is Assembly Bill 313, which would prohibit pit lakes formed by mines throughout the state.

" We are constantly interested in legislation and regulatory activity that accomplishes that fragile balance in between economic opportunity for the state with ecological responsibility," she stated. "One of the expenses that we are concerned with and engaged in a working group with is Assembly Bill 313, which would require backfilling pit lakes.".

Beyond looking at legislation, a growing interest around mining is how the market will help sustain the shift to renewable energy.

With the transportation sector accounting for one-third of Nevada's greenhouse gas emissions, there has been substantial effort to expand the use of electrical cars and the facilities that supports it.

And in January, the U.S. Department of Energy proposed a $700 million construction loan for an open pit lithium mine in Esmeralda County. The following month General Motors Co. conditionally agreed to invest $650 million in a lithium mine in Humboldt County.

" Mining the products utilized in batteries presents a special ability for Nevada to become a major player in the EV supply chain," according to a report from the Governor's Office of Economic Development.

But Bennett stated the mining market will still need to produce a range of materials, not simply focus on lithium.

" Look at all of the minerals that go into the development of a cell phone or an electric vehicle," Bennett said. "They both use gold; they both use lithium; they both utilize copper; they both use various other metals and minerals, a lot of which Nevada produces but a few of which we do not.".

Bennett said despite the fact that there is chance for growth, the market still deals with difficulties such as inflationary pressure and supply chain interruptions. It's also facing a worker lack. A report on the mining industry by Las Vegas-based company Applied Analysis, commissioned by the NVMA, approximates the market lost about 500 tasks in between 2021 and 2022.

" All those difficulties that you name are the obstacles facing other industries in Nevada also," she stated. "We're sort of all in the exact same boat.".

Contact Sean Hemmersmeier at shemmersmeier@reviewjournal.com. Follow @seanhemmers34 on Twitter.