Esmeralda County secures at least $15 million to mitigate impacts of lithium mine
Goldfield is the county seat in Esmeralda County. (Photo: Sydney Martinez/Travel Nevada)
Esmeralda County has secured an agreement with lithium developer Ioneer that will bring the rural county at least $15 million in funding to mitigate the impacts of a massive planned mine in the least populated county in the state.
Earlier this month, the Esmeralda County Board of Commissioners approved a development agreement with Ioneer that will provide the county with at least $5 million in funding for emergency services and more than $10 million for road improvements and maintenance.
The seven year development agreement is meant to 'reasonably mitigate the land use impacts that the development' of Ioneer's 7,000 acre Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project 'will have on the citizens of Esmeralda County.'
Esmeralda County is the least populated county in Nevada, a fact reflected by the county's infrastructure and services. The county is built to support the roughly 750 residents who live there, but if the projected 500 construction jobs it will take to build the lithium mine is accurate, that influx alone would nearly double the county's population within a couple of years.
Under the agreement, Ioneer will reimburse Esmeralda County for the cost of three sheriff's deputies and six emergency services staffers, including salary and insurance and retirement and benefit costs. Esmeralda County will also be reimbursed for three converted patrol vehicles, one fire truck, and one ambulance under the agreement.
'Ioneer's investments will make for a safer and more secure Esmeralda County,' said County Fire Chief Jeffrey Bushnell in a press release Monday. 'We're grateful for their financial support and look forward to our continued partnership for the many years that follow.'
The agreement is in the final stages of approval with the county. A signed copy of the agreement will be posted once finalized, according to county officials.
'Ioneer has embraced our entire community, welcoming our input. They have left no stone unturned in a quest for a fair and harmonious development agreement,' said Mary Jane Zakas, Esmeralda County Commissioner for District 3 in a statement.
For years, county officials have raised concerns about how the largest development project in the county in the last 22 years would require significant investments from the county to expand law enforcement, emergency services, and waste disposal. The county will also need to take on higher maintenance expenses for the wear-and-tear on roads carrying heavy machinery, a concern reiterated by county commissioners last year during the project environmental review period.
Those impacts will now be partially mitigated by the development agreement which is designed to 'promote the health, safety and general welfare' of Esmeralda County residents while ensuring the 'highest economic benefit and least fiscal cost to its citizens,' according to the agreement.
Dyer, a small town about 13 miles from the proposed lithium mine, would likely face the brunt of the impacts from the project.
State Highway 264 and other transportation routes through the town of Dryer would be used to transport hazardous materials and hundreds of diesel fuel vehicles a day to and from the mine, according to the environmental review.
Under the development agreement, Ioneer would be required to prepare and deliver an emergency response plan to the county before the company starts transporting or storing hazardous materials on the project site, including truckloads of boric acid needed to mine lithium.
Ioneer would also be required to pay up to $25,000 annually for emergency response and fire protection training as soon as the company begins delivering equipment for construction of the mine.
The increase of emergency services needed to accommodate mining operations also calls for an emergency facility to house the additional emergency workers the county plans to hire, according to the development agreement. Ioneer will be required to pay up to $900,000 for the construction of an emergency facility near the intersection of State Highway 264 and State Highway 773.
Lithium extraction requires massive amounts of water, a tough sell in a state plagued by two decades of drought. Ioneer plans to source water from Esmeralda County's Fish Lake Valley, where the groundwater supply is already over-appropriated and over-pumped. Over the past 50 years agriculture has reduced groundwater in Fish Lake Valley by up to 200 feet in some areas, drying up residential wells.
The agreement acknowledges the need for groundwater mitigation by establishing a county-administered program to help residents in the region who need domestic water wells drilled deeper or rehabilitated.
However, the program would only be funded if Esmeralda County secures grants to fund the jobs and associated costs that Ioneer would have covered under the agreement. In that scenario, Ioneer would get paid back the costs in annual payments and half that money would be set aside for the well digging program.
County officials have also raised concerns about the costs of expanding waste disposal services to accommodate the boom in workers needed to construct the mine.
The agreement addressed that concern by noting that Ioneer will reimburse the county for the cost of a garbage truck if the volume of household waste increases to the point where another is needed.
'We are dedicated to being good neighbours, providing the County with the necessary resources to ensure that our funding assists the County and services it provides in preparation for the commencement of project construction,' said Bernard Rowe the Managing Director of Ioneer in a statement Monday.
Federal land managers gave their final approval for the mine in October, after a four year federal permitting and environmental review process. Ioneer also secured a $996 million federal loan in January to fund the mine processing facilities and associated infrastructure.
However, the project was hit with a financial setback in February when South African mining company Sibanye-Stillwater pulled back plans to invest $490 million in Ioneer for a 50 percent stake in the project following cratering lithium prices.
Despite the setback, Ioneer said Rhyolite Ridge is construction ready and the company is currently focused on seeking a new equity partner to bring the project into production.
Once constructed the massive 7,000 acre project would be in operation for 23 years and remove enough lithium from Nevada's public lands to supply nearly 370,000 electric vehicles each year.
The project has also attracted fierce opposition from conservation groups opposed to the mine's encroachment on critical habitat reserved for the only known population of the endangered wildflower Tiehm's buckwheat. The flower grows on just 10 acres of lithium-boron rich soil near the Silver Peak Range in Esmeralda County.
A week after the federal government approved the mine, the Center for Biological Diversity initiated a lawsuit against the mine under the Endangered Species Act.
If constructed, the mine would create a 66 acre quarry — a deep open pit characteristic of mines and where the lithium would be extracted — and directly disturb about 191 acres of critical habitat for the Tiehm's buckwheat. In total the mine would result in the removal of more than 2,000 acres of nesting sites and foraging habitat for a number of species.
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‘It's not a smash-and-grab': Tiny town of Dyer, Nevada, debates lithium mine's impact
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He has lived in the valley since 1972 and now he's growing wine grapes . 'We're talking about real improvements for the poorest county in Nevada. There are 700 people that live here. You know, 300-plus live in Fish Lake Valley. The county seat has less. Silver Peak has even fewer,' Hartman said. Rhyolite Ridge lithium deposit not like the others: Tour shows Nevada mine site A study commissioned by Ioneer estimates when the mine is producing, it will generate around $8.5 million a year in taxes for the county, more than doubling the current county budget that's around $6 million. During a tour for 8 News Now last month, Ioneer's managing director, Bernard Rowe, said the mine could operate for 100 years depending on how it's operated. In the past week, updated financials from Ioneer show that's possible, and the lithium-boron deposit is richer than previously revealed. Residents know Ioneer officials because the company has been holding community meetings for six or seven years, Rowe said. 'Over time, he has been here. He has been listening to us,' Hartman said about Rowe. 'It's not a smash-and-grab,' Hartman said. 'What he's found is a multigenerational deposit. So this is two, three times … this becomes Michigan building cars back in the day, you know, when Ford first talked about the assembly line,' Hartman said. Some residents are more skeptical. They're not happy about anything that adds traffic on the roads. Others fear that Ioneer will sell out to a partner. And water is on everybody's minds. Matt Johnson, a Fish Lake Valley farmer who runs Johnson's Feed and Farm Supply with his wife, grows alfalfa and orchard grass, and he runs some cattle on his property. 'It feels like salesmanship,' he said. 'We're already in a designated basin where we have a declining water table every year,' Johnson said. He said there are concerns that taking water for the mine could be detrimental to groundwater levels. Johnson serves as vice-chairman of the Esmeralda Conservation District, an agency that deals with wells and water management. Ioneer came into the picture long after groundwater dropped in the valley, but Rowe understands the concern. When the U.S. Bureau of Land Management asked Ioneer if it would consider doing a groundwater study as part of the approval process for the mine, the company agreed. Rowe called it a massive undertaking. The study found the water table has dropped several hundred feet over the past 50 to 60 years, Rowe said. The analysis found that the southern end of the valley is actually a separate water table, and that water moves from the south to the north. He said the study showed the water table at the northern end of the valley had only dropped 5 feet at a site where one measurement was taken, the turnoff to the mine site just north of Dyer. 'We could pump any amount of water at Rhyolite Ridge, and it wouldn't affect the valley,' Rowe said. Ioneer isn't taking any risks, and has purchased water rights in the valley that it will leverage against water use at the mine. 'Flagrant violation': Lawsuit disputes US approval of Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine in Nevada A 'pivot' is a well that is at the center of an irrigated circle that you might see in aerial views of rural Nevada farms. Ioneer has produced the water rights for six existing pivots in Fish Lake Valley. Agriculture is continuing at those sites until Ioneer determines it needs additional water, an Ioneer spokesperson said. 'Instead of irrigating six pivots down here, we will take that water, we will turn off those six pivots, and we'll take that water and use it up at the mine,' Rowe said. That would be a gradual process — not just an abrupt shutoff that could cause dust problems, he said. US agency review says Nevada lithium mine can co-exist with endangered flower Johnson acknowledged that Ioneer had every right to pump groundwater after purchasing water rights. 'It has a legal path forward,' he said. 'We had very lengthy discussions about water,' Ralph Keys, a former Esmeralda County commissioner, said. 'The county will always have the right to protest any change in water use in the basin and the county as a whole.' He noted that the water rights in the basin are fully allocated. 'The basin is closed and there are no additional water rights available,' he said. Keys helped craft the Ioneer-Esmeralda County agreement before he left the commission after three terms in 2024. 'The county depends on the agricultural industry for a large consistent tax base. Farming has been a stable industry in Esmeralda County for over 100 years. I cannot say that about mining,' Keys said. He's from a family that has been farming in Fish Lake Valley since the early 1970s. 'Hopefully, the Ioneer project will be around for 50-plus years. The boom-and-bust cycle of mining in Nevada is evident. Look at all of the old ghost towns around Nevada,' Keys said. Goldfield, the biggest city in Nevada from 1903 to 1910 (pop. 20,000) during a gold mining boom, is evidence of his concern. The Esmeralda County seat is now home to about 200 people. 'As a commissioner when Ioneer came to town I saw the need to stress the fact that we did not have the necessary EMS to support such a large mining operation,' he said. 'Public safety became the number one concern of mine.' In Dyer, the nearest hospital is 90 miles away in Bishop, California. Keys put a priority on parts of the agreement that dealt with safety. Keys and Ioneer's Chad Yeftich, vice president for corporate development and external affairs, both emphasized the importance of benefits included in the gap between now and when the mine becomes profitable. Without the agreement, Esmeralda County doesn't have the resources to provide emergency services and additional law enforcement needed as the population grows and activity picks up. Training will be needed before shipments of lithium and boric acid go on area roads. Ioneer is also footing the bill for improvements to the county road that leads to Rhyolite Ridge. Another element of the agreement surrounds the possibility that the county could find grants to help cover the costs of additional expenses related to growth and the costs associated with the mine. Ioneer is funding the cost of a grant writer. If grant money is secured, half the money would go directly to the county for needs associated with drilling deeper wells or rehabilitation of wells. Johnson said he's concerned that the agreement is completely voluntary and includes language that Ioneer can use to get out from under it. He has lived in the valley on-and-off since 1976, and views the situation as favoritism. 'I'm not 'anti-the-project' enough to go to all their meetings,' Johnson said. Concerns about water go beyond farming. In May, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed protections for the Fish Lake Valley tui chub, a small fish that lives in a spring on a private ranch in the northern end of the valley. If the tui chub is protected under the Endangered Species Act, it could complicate an already complex water picture. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Esmeralda County secures at least $15 million to mitigate impacts of lithium mine
Goldfield is the county seat in Esmeralda County. (Photo: Sydney Martinez/Travel Nevada) Esmeralda County has secured an agreement with lithium developer Ioneer that will bring the rural county at least $15 million in funding to mitigate the impacts of a massive planned mine in the least populated county in the state. Earlier this month, the Esmeralda County Board of Commissioners approved a development agreement with Ioneer that will provide the county with at least $5 million in funding for emergency services and more than $10 million for road improvements and maintenance. The seven year development agreement is meant to 'reasonably mitigate the land use impacts that the development' of Ioneer's 7,000 acre Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project 'will have on the citizens of Esmeralda County.' Esmeralda County is the least populated county in Nevada, a fact reflected by the county's infrastructure and services. The county is built to support the roughly 750 residents who live there, but if the projected 500 construction jobs it will take to build the lithium mine is accurate, that influx alone would nearly double the county's population within a couple of years. Under the agreement, Ioneer will reimburse Esmeralda County for the cost of three sheriff's deputies and six emergency services staffers, including salary and insurance and retirement and benefit costs. Esmeralda County will also be reimbursed for three converted patrol vehicles, one fire truck, and one ambulance under the agreement. 'Ioneer's investments will make for a safer and more secure Esmeralda County,' said County Fire Chief Jeffrey Bushnell in a press release Monday. 'We're grateful for their financial support and look forward to our continued partnership for the many years that follow.' The agreement is in the final stages of approval with the county. A signed copy of the agreement will be posted once finalized, according to county officials. 'Ioneer has embraced our entire community, welcoming our input. They have left no stone unturned in a quest for a fair and harmonious development agreement,' said Mary Jane Zakas, Esmeralda County Commissioner for District 3 in a statement. For years, county officials have raised concerns about how the largest development project in the county in the last 22 years would require significant investments from the county to expand law enforcement, emergency services, and waste disposal. The county will also need to take on higher maintenance expenses for the wear-and-tear on roads carrying heavy machinery, a concern reiterated by county commissioners last year during the project environmental review period. Those impacts will now be partially mitigated by the development agreement which is designed to 'promote the health, safety and general welfare' of Esmeralda County residents while ensuring the 'highest economic benefit and least fiscal cost to its citizens,' according to the agreement. Dyer, a small town about 13 miles from the proposed lithium mine, would likely face the brunt of the impacts from the project. State Highway 264 and other transportation routes through the town of Dryer would be used to transport hazardous materials and hundreds of diesel fuel vehicles a day to and from the mine, according to the environmental review. Under the development agreement, Ioneer would be required to prepare and deliver an emergency response plan to the county before the company starts transporting or storing hazardous materials on the project site, including truckloads of boric acid needed to mine lithium. Ioneer would also be required to pay up to $25,000 annually for emergency response and fire protection training as soon as the company begins delivering equipment for construction of the mine. The increase of emergency services needed to accommodate mining operations also calls for an emergency facility to house the additional emergency workers the county plans to hire, according to the development agreement. Ioneer will be required to pay up to $900,000 for the construction of an emergency facility near the intersection of State Highway 264 and State Highway 773. Lithium extraction requires massive amounts of water, a tough sell in a state plagued by two decades of drought. Ioneer plans to source water from Esmeralda County's Fish Lake Valley, where the groundwater supply is already over-appropriated and over-pumped. Over the past 50 years agriculture has reduced groundwater in Fish Lake Valley by up to 200 feet in some areas, drying up residential wells. The agreement acknowledges the need for groundwater mitigation by establishing a county-administered program to help residents in the region who need domestic water wells drilled deeper or rehabilitated. However, the program would only be funded if Esmeralda County secures grants to fund the jobs and associated costs that Ioneer would have covered under the agreement. In that scenario, Ioneer would get paid back the costs in annual payments and half that money would be set aside for the well digging program. County officials have also raised concerns about the costs of expanding waste disposal services to accommodate the boom in workers needed to construct the mine. The agreement addressed that concern by noting that Ioneer will reimburse the county for the cost of a garbage truck if the volume of household waste increases to the point where another is needed. 'We are dedicated to being good neighbours, providing the County with the necessary resources to ensure that our funding assists the County and services it provides in preparation for the commencement of project construction,' said Bernard Rowe the Managing Director of Ioneer in a statement Monday. Federal land managers gave their final approval for the mine in October, after a four year federal permitting and environmental review process. Ioneer also secured a $996 million federal loan in January to fund the mine processing facilities and associated infrastructure. However, the project was hit with a financial setback in February when South African mining company Sibanye-Stillwater pulled back plans to invest $490 million in Ioneer for a 50 percent stake in the project following cratering lithium prices. Despite the setback, Ioneer said Rhyolite Ridge is construction ready and the company is currently focused on seeking a new equity partner to bring the project into production. Once constructed the massive 7,000 acre project would be in operation for 23 years and remove enough lithium from Nevada's public lands to supply nearly 370,000 electric vehicles each year. The project has also attracted fierce opposition from conservation groups opposed to the mine's encroachment on critical habitat reserved for the only known population of the endangered wildflower Tiehm's buckwheat. The flower grows on just 10 acres of lithium-boron rich soil near the Silver Peak Range in Esmeralda County. A week after the federal government approved the mine, the Center for Biological Diversity initiated a lawsuit against the mine under the Endangered Species Act. If constructed, the mine would create a 66 acre quarry — a deep open pit characteristic of mines and where the lithium would be extracted — and directly disturb about 191 acres of critical habitat for the Tiehm's buckwheat. In total the mine would result in the removal of more than 2,000 acres of nesting sites and foraging habitat for a number of species.
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Its role as a critical material continues to grow, with market demand driven by its applications in agriculture, glass, ceramics, and emerging advanced technologies such as semiconductors, electric vehicles, clean energy (solar, wind turbines, nuclear) and military and aerospace applications. These developments further validate Canter's strategic focus on exploring and advancing its lithium-boron projects, positioning the Company to benefit from the increasing demand for these essential materials. For more information, contact investors@ for a copy of the Company's investor brief on boron and visit Upcoming Events Annual General Meeting Canter's 2025 Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. The Meeting will address several key items, including the presentation of the Company's audited financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2024, the election of directors, the re-appointment of the Company's auditor, and other important corporate matters as outlined in the management information circular. For voting instructions or to request a paper copy of the meeting materials, shareholders may contact the Company or its transfer agent. Fastmarkets Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials Conference 2025 Canter's management team will be attending the Fastmarkets Lithium Supply & Battery Raw Materials Conference in Las Vegas (June 23-26). This event provides a valuable opportunity for Canter to connect with industry leaders, explore emerging trends, and share insights on sustainable lithium and boron resource exploration and development. To request a meeting with management, please contact info@ Option Grant The Company announces that it has granted its first option issuance since completing its personnel transformation at the corporate level during 2024. The Company has granted 2,400,000 incentive stock options to certain directors, officers, advisors and consultants, exercisable at $0.07 per share, for a period of five (5) years from the date of grant. Fifty percent of the incentive stock option grant vests immediately, with the other fifty percent vesting 12 months from the date of grant. Qualified Person (QP) The technical information contained in this news release was reviewed and approved by Eric Saderholm Director and Technical Advisor of Canter Resources, a Qualified Person (QP), as defined under National Instrument 43- 101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Canter Resources Corp. Canter Resources Corp. is a junior mineral exploration company advancing the Columbus Lithium-Boron Project and the Railroad Valley (RV) Lithium-Boron Project in Nevada, USA. The Company is completing a phased drilling approach at Columbus to test highly prospective brine targets at varying depths for lithium-boron enrichment and plans to leverage the Company's critical metals targeting database to generate a portfolio of high-quality projects with the aim of defining mineral resources that support the technology and domestic clean energy supply chains in North America. On behalf of the Board of Directors. For further information contact: Joness LangChief Executive Officer Canter Resources Corp. Tel: 778.382.1193jlang@ For investor inquiries contact: Kristina Pillon, High Tide Consulting 604.908.1695investors@ The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking statements. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's plans for the Project and the payments related thereto, the issuance of the Consideration Shares and the Company's expected exploration activities. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to: requirements for additional capital; future prices of minerals; changes in general economic conditions; changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities; other risks of the mining industry; the inability to obtain any necessary governmental and regulatory approvals; changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations; hedging practices; and currency fluctuations. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. To view the source version of this press release, please visit
