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1) In Reno Nevada, opponents of the largest planned lithium mine in the U.S. urged a federal judge to abandon the government's approval of the project until it completes additional environmental reviews. The legal battle has been going on for nearly two years, and the U.S. Judge Miranda Du said it could take another couple of months to make a decision on the case. The mine was approved by the Bureau of Land Management near the Nevada-Oregon owned by Lithium Nevada Corp. Lawyers for the company and the Bureau of Land Management insisted the project complies with U.S. laws and regulations, while lawyers for a Nevada rancher, conservation groups and Native American tribes suing to block the mine said that should not occur because any environmental damage would be irreversible.
2) A joint venture between Rio Tinto's Guinea unit and China's Baowu on developing infrastructure for the huge Simandou iron ore mine, the next step towards building a project that it has held a stake in since 1997. The mine lies in a remote corner of Guinea and the challenge is in transporting high grade iron ore from mine to market, with the government requiring any developer to build a 375-mile railway to the coast. To accomplish this, last July Rio Tinto's Guinea unit formed a joint venture with Winning Consortium Simandou and the Guinea government to develop that rail and port infrastructure. Simandou is the world's largest undeveloped project for iron ore, which is a key ingredient in stainless steel.