Conservationists and a Native American advocacy group are suing to block a Nevada lithium mine they say will drive an endangered wildflower to extinction, disrupt groundwater flows and threaten cultural resources.

When the federal government approved the Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine in Nevada a week ago, conservationists said they would sue to protect Tiehm's buckwheat, a rare native wildflower that only grows where the mine is located.

The mining project can quadruple the United States' lithium supply — but conservationists say it may also drive the endangered Tiehm's buckwheat to extinction.

The US government has approved the construction of a massive new lithium mine in Nevada as part of a strategy to break China’s dominance over the supply chain of critical minerals used in EVs.

The Center for Biological Diversity is suing BLM over its authorization of Ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Mine.

The project in Nevada is key to Biden's clean energy agenda, but the mining plan appears destined for a legal battle with conservationists who say it will drive an endangered wildflower to extinction.

The lawsuit, lodged in a Las Vegas federal court, raises alarms about the potential environmental impacts of the mine.

Environmentalists challenged this week the Biden administration’s go-ahead for a big open pit lithium mine in Nevada that impinges on the habitat of the endangered Tiehm’s buckwheat. Hot on the heels of the administration’s green light for the Rhyolite Ridge project,