NASA opposes lithium mining at tabletop flat Nevada desert site used to calibrate satellites

By SCOTT SONNER
Associated Press

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The latest challenge to lithium mining in Nevada in the push for cleaner energy comes from a place where no opposition has arisen before: space. At NASA’s request, U.S. land managers have withdrawn about 36 square miles of federal land from potential mineral exploration and mining at a desert site 250 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The U.S. space agency says the unusually flat desert tract above the lithium deposit must be left undisturbed because the unique topography is used to calibrate razor-sharp measurements for hundreds of satellites orbiting overhead. A Nevada congressman has introduced legislation opposing the removal of the tract as a potential lithium mining site.