There’s lithium in them thar hills – but fears grow over US ‘white gold’ boom

The treasured mineral is critical for electric vehicles and could help slow global heating, but locals worry about the harmful extraction near tribal land

Deep in the parched landscapes of Nevada, there is a stirring boom. The mining of lithium holds the promise of a treasured resource that can help slow disastrous global heating.

Spurred by a growing demand for battery parts essential for electric vehicles, the US's only major lithium mine, in Silver Peak, a remote outpost situated in desert scrub and nascent Joshua trees a three-hour drive north of Las Vegas, is doubling its production.