The federal government is infusing hundreds of millions into lithium production in Nevada as a means of shoring up national security and reducing the nation's C02 emissions. 

For Nevada it means a diverse economy and good jobs.

Nevada is the largest lithium source in North America, and the goal is to build batteries for electric vehicles.

Nevada is the only state to have all seven stages of the lithium process from extraction to recycling within the state's borders.

The Nevada Battery Coalition says there is an enormous push from the federal government to produce a closed-loop supply chain of lithium for the entire nation, and they say Nevada is primed to do it.

"It's an idea of ensuring that we have companies at each stage. We have the research and development, we have the workforce, we have all of the components necessary so that we make sure that not only do we have those seven stages of the supply chain, but we continue to grow where we're lacking and make that supply chain as small as possible so we can be as efficient as possible," explained Nevada Battery Coalition Coordinator Caleb Cage.

A major stakeholder is ioneer Ltd. The company is developing the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project in Esmeralda County near Tonopah.

They have received a ten-year $700 million loan through the Department Of Energy (DOE) to construct a refining processing plant at their mining operation.

The Rhyolite Ridge Project is expecting the final permit approval early next year with the goal of producing refined lithium by 2026.

In short, ioneer will dig up the mineral, extract it from the rock, and refine it to make a high purity product - all in one self-sustaining low carbon emitting process.

"Rhyolite Ridge will actually be unusual in terms of lithium mining operations around the world, in that it will be producing those high purity chemicals at the site. For example, in Australia we produce something like 60% of the world's lithium. We just make a 6% concentrate and we ship out nearly all of it, and 90% of it goes overseas for refining," explained ioneer Ltd. Managing Director and President Bernard Rowe.

Dragonfly Energy is essentially the next few phases in the lithium loop.

They distribute their Battle Born battery packs to electric RVs and marine applications across North America.

The biggest new step in their evolution, is they are going to source the materials for their cells from lithium entirely mined in Nevada.

"We're going to become self-sufficient as a nation, even as a state, that we can take advantage of the resource that we have right here in Nevada, convert into materials that can be applied into lithium ion cells, produce those cells, produce those packs, and sell them into the marketplace," explained Dragonfly Energy CEO Denis Phares.

The final couple of phases in the lithium loop would be integrating the batteries into actual vehicles, like Tesla, And finally, recycling the material which is being done by a company operating out of Nevada called AquaMetals.

Earlier this year, 2 News aired a series on Thacker Pass - which you can watch at the link below - 

2 News Investigates: Thacker Pass