Trump administration fast-tracks lithium mine in sage-grouse habitat of McDermitt Caldera

The Bureau of Land Management added Jindalee’s HiTech Minerals McDermitt Lithium project to the Trump administration’s FAST-41 fast-track list, granting approval for exploratory drilling at 168 sites and 21.5 miles of access roads on 7,200 acres of public land. The agency initially offered only a five-day comment period, which was lengthened after public outcry but remained far shorter than usual. Environmental groups, including the Oregon Natural Desert Association, sued, arguing the BLM’s environmental assessment omitted critical studies of groundwater use, cumulative impacts, and effects on sage-grouse leks and threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout.

The project, owned by Australian firm Jindalee through its subsidiary HiTech Minerals, is the first lithium mine fast-tracked in the second Trump term and could lead to a full-scale open-pit operation. Jindalee’s CEO Ian Rodger said the company will honor mitigation fees, pursue conservation credits, and improve tribal and rancher outreach, while the BLM maintains the fast-track does not predetermine the final outcome. Critics warn the accelerated process undermines wildlife corridors and tribal lands in the “forgotten wildlife corridor” of the McDermitt Caldera.