Summary ............................................................................................................................... 1
Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 14
To the US Congress .............................................................................................................. 14
To the US Department of Interior ........................................................................................... 15
To the US Bureau of Land Management ................................................................................. 15
To Lithium Americas and Lithium Nevada .............................................................................. 15
To the US Department of Energy ............................................................................................ 16
To General Motors ................................................................................................................ 16
To Other Companies Exploring the McDermitt Caldera ........................................................... 17
Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 18
Background ........................................................................................................................ 26
The 1865 Massacre at Peehee Mu’huh .................................................................................. 26
Significance of Peehee Mu’huh to Indigenous Communities .................................................. 30
Colonialism, Extraction, and their Legacies ........................................................................... 34
The Numu/Nuwu and Newe and Colonialism ................................................................... 42
The Thacker Pass Mine and the Global Hunt for Lithium ......................................................... 45
The Need for a Just Transition ............................................................................................... 50
Permitting Process for the Thacker Pass Mine ................................................................... 52
Permitting Process under US Law .......................................................................................... 52
Public Comment and Consultation Requirements during Mine Permitting ......................... 55
Litigation over Tribal Consultation ........................................................................................ 59
People of Red Mountain (PRM), Reno-Sparks Indian Colony (RSIC), Burns Paiute Tribe (BPT) 61
Winnemucca Indian Colony (WIC) ................................................................................... 63
Summit Lake Paiute Tribe (SLPT)..................................................................................... 65
Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe (FMPST) ......................................................... 66
Litigation over the 1865 Massacre ......................................................................................... 68
Human Rights Impacts of the Thacker Pass Mine ................................................................ 73
Right to Access and Return to Traditional and Ancestral Land ................................................. 75
Right to Access Traditional and Ancestral Land ............................................................... 78
Right to Return to Traditional and Ancestral Land ............................................................ 82
Right to Freedom of Religion ................................................................................................. 85
Right to Culture .................................................................................................................... 92
Right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent............................................................................. 97
BLM’s Failure to Obtain Tribes’ FPIC .............................................................................. 100
Lithium Americas’ and General Motors’ Responsibilities and Failures to Obtain FPIC....... 103
Human Rights Risks and the Thacker Pass Mine ............................................................... 110
Risks to the Rights to Health, a Healthy Environment, and to Water ....................................... 110
Risks to Water Quality ................................................................................................... 113
Risks to Availability of Water ........................................................................................ 122
Risk of Air Pollution Affecting the Rights to Health and a Healthy Environment ......................... 125
Risks of Sexual Violence ..................................................................................................... 128
Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. 132
Appendices ....................................................................................................................... 134
Appendix I: Human Rights Watch Letter to Lithium Americas—May 29, 2024 ......................... 134
Appendix II: Lithium Americas Response to Human Rights Watch May 2024 Letter—June 25,
2024 ..................................................................................................................................137
Appendix III: Human Rights Watch Letter to Lithium Americas—December 6, 2024 ................ 158
Appendix IV: Lithium Americas Response to Human Rights Watch December 2024 Letter—
December 19, 2024 ............................................................................................................ 167
Appendix V: Human Rights Watch Letter to Bureau of Land Management—May 29, 2024....... 183
Appendix VI: Human Rights Watch Letter to General Motors—July 8, 2024 ............................ 186
Appendix VII: Human Rights Watch Letter to General Motors—December 10, 2024 ................ 189
Appendix VIII: General Motors Response to Human Rights Watch December 2024 Letter—
January 3, 2024 .................................................................................................................. 194
Appendix IX: Human Rights Watch Letter to Barrick Gold—December 12, 2024 ...................... 196
Appendix X: Barrick Gold Response to Human Rights Watch December 2024 Letter—December
30, 2024 ............................................................................................................................ 199
