Esmeralda County commissioner hopeful, skeptical, worried
Nancy Boland would love to see some economic development and revitalization in Esmeralda County, where she serves as County Commission chairwoman.
With so much focus on lithium in Nevada's Clayton Valley, she's hopeful, skeptical and worried at the same time.
"We've got this lithium rush going on right now," Boland said, speaking via cellphone from atop a ridge where she goes to get a cell signal.
Esmeralda County is home to Silver Peak Mine, the only operating lithium mine in the United States. But other junior mining companies are on the prowl in Clayton Valley, hoping to tap underground brines with lithium concentrations high enough to make mining profitable.
So far, most of the activity is on paper, she said.
"There's lot of claim staking, a lot of companies buying other companies," said Boland, who lives in Lida, a ghost town at the base of the Palmetto Mountains about 20 miles as the crow flies south of Silver Peak. "The only one that's actually doing anything is Pure Energy. They are permitted for exploration."
"A lot of this stuff may never come to pass," she said.
Pure Energy in September announced an agreement with Tesla Motors Inc. to supply lithium for Tesla's battery factory in Northern Nevada, provided ongoing studies conclude the project is economically and technically viable. Other companies have announced they are looking or pursuing options on mining claims.
A mining boom and potential jobs would be welcome news for this sprawling county in Nevada's outback. At 3,582 square miles, Esmeralda County by last count had 822 residents, about 0.2 people per square mile, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Nevada as a whole has 24.6 people per square mile. Esmeralda County's median household income in 2013 was $30,284, compared with a statewide median household income of $52,800.
Silver Peak itself has about 125 residents, said Sylvia Griffin, the local postmaster. Many workers at the lithium mine and nearby Mineral Ridge gold and silver mine live in travel trailers or commute from Tonopah, about 55 miles away in neighboring Nye County.
"A lot of them commute in because there's no place to stay here," said Griffin, 63, who moved to Silver Peak as a young girl in 1967 when her father went to work at the lithium mine.
"It is God's country out here. I just like the security of being out here," she said.
"I don't like crowds."
Boland also worries about water.
"It's quite concerning for me," she said.
Lithium brine is pumped from the ground, then placed in large ponds for the water to evaporate.
"That means all the water leaves the basin," Boland said.
"Even though it's not potable water, the brine isn't, one can see what's under the ground," she said.
"We have community drinking water in a couple of these basins," Boland said, adding the county has invested millions of dollars in an arsenic treatment plant.
"I would be all for it," she said, "if it's done in an environmentally sound way and we didn't have to worry about our drinking water.
"We don't have extra water," she said.
The county does gain net proceeds taxes from mining operations, but activity hasn't equated to secondary economic benefits — other businesses coming in to support workers.
"A lot of those jobs are being provided from outside the county," Boland said.
Goldfield, the Esmeralda County seat, has fewer than 300 residents, according to the 2010 Census. It is described on some websites as a "semi-abandoned ghost town" and has few amenities, which is why some people working at the mines live elsewhere.
"We have such few souls here," Boland said.
Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901. Find her on Twitter: @SandraChereb
