LAS VEGAS (AP) — A federal judge in Nevada has ruled against conservationists who wanted to stop a lithium-boron mine they said would harm an endangered wildflower.

The ruling marks a major legal victory for the 11-square-mile (28.49 square-kilometer) Rhyolite Ridge Lithium/Boron Mine Project in Esmeralda County, located between Reno and Las Vegas. The land holds the largest lithium and boron deposit in the world outside of Turkey, said Bernard Rowe, managing director of Ioneer, the Australia-based company behind the project.

U.S. District Judge Cristina Silva ruled Friday that the federal government properly approved the project and sufficiently examined the impacts the project will have on the rare wildflower called Tiehm’s buckwheat, whose entire population grows within 10 acres (4.05 hectares) of land in the project area. Environmental groups behind the lawsuit say they may appeal.

Lithium is an essential component of electric vehicle batteries. Rhyolite Ridge would be Nevada’s third lithium mine, and one of few mines that will process the materials on site, Rowe said.

“Rhyolite Ridge will create hundreds of new American jobs, reduce reliance on foreign materials and processing, and provide a domestic source of two critical minerals,” Chad Yeftich, vice president of corporate development and external affairs at Ioneer, said in a statement.

Growing US manufacturing

Ioneer wants construction to start by the end of this year and production in 2029, though it is still looking for a financial partner after a major investor pulled out last year. Sibanye Stillwater said the project did not make financial sense. In January 2025, the Department of Energy finalized a nearly $1 billion loan for the project.

The $2 billion mine would have a life span of over 77 years and would produce enough lithium carbonate for around 400,000 electric vehicles per year, Rowe said. It will also produce boric acid, which is used in pest control, flame retardant, and medical and personal care.

Rhyolite Ridge was first approved under the Biden administration as an part of the former president’s clean energy agenda. The Trump administration has also supported lithium projects in Nevada as a way to bolster US manufacturing of critical minerals. The Interior Department declined to comment.

Protecting the wildflower

The Center for Biological Diversity, which has long fought to protect the wildflower and successfully pushed for its endangered species designation in 2022, is not finished in its fight, Great Basin Director Patrick Donnelly said.

His organization is considering appealing the ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the case could have implications for other species and protected habitats on the Endangered Species Act.

“This can seem like a little remote flower in the middle of nowhere. But if we lose on Tiehm’s buckwheat, you know, what else are we facing with the whittling away of the Endangered Species Act?” Donnelly said.

Tiehm’s buckwheat is a wildflower a couple inches tall that grows in an area the size of seven football fields in the Silver Peak Range. In the spring, the plant produces green leaves and yellow flowers that look like pom-poms. When it blooms, it is the epicenter of a vibrant pollinator community, Donnelly said.

Silva, a Biden-nominated judge, found Ioneer’s mitigation efforts, which include fencing around the habitat and buffer zones between the mining activities and the buckwheat, were sufficient for the purposes of the Endangered Species Act. Silva wrote that of the buckwheat’s 1.4 square mile (3.63 square kilometers) of critical habitat, it will lose 4.9% due to the project.

Donnelly maintains the mining project will increase the risk of the wildflower going extinct, which would affect the ecosystem’s biodiversity. He cast doubt that fencing around the flower’s habitat will protect it.

“There’s been this kind of death by a thousand cuts for Tiehm’s buckwheat,” Donnelly said, adding that if it were to move forward, it would be the “death blow” for the wildflower.

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A new poll finds the race for Nevada governor tightening, with incumbent Republican Joe Lombardo just slightly ahead of his chief Democratic rival, Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford.

According to the survey by Arizona-based Noble Predictive Insights, Lombardo leads Ford 39% to 38%, with 17% undecided and 6% supporting third-party candidates.

WATCH| Steve Sebelius talks to locals their thoughts on Nevada’s gubernatorial race

New poll finds race for Nevada governor tightening

In the last Noble survey, conducted in October, Lombardo led Ford 40% to 37%, with 23% undecided.

Mike Noble, founder and CEO of Noble Predictive Insights, said governor’s contests in Nevada are historically close.

“This is why Nevada’s governor’s race is ranked in the top five most competitive races,” Noble said. “So it’s not just our polling that shows it, but also historically and everybody else looking at that. It’s going to be a tight contest. It’s going to come down to some core folks in the middle, and which way are they persuaded, towards Ford or towards Lombardo?”

A survey of past gubernatorial races dating to 1998 shows races with margins ranging from about 4 percentage points all the way up to more than 46 percentage points.

The average — 11% — is skewed by two outlier elections. One came in 2002, when then-Gov. Kenny Guinn defeated then-state Joe Neal, D-Clark County, who ran without the support of organized labor or the Democratic Party, advocating a platform of raising the state’s gross gaming tax.

The other came in 2014, when Democrats essentially ceded the race to then-incumbent Republican Brian Sandoval by running a candidate, Bob Goodman, who lost to “none of these candidates” in the Democratic primary.

But of all the races, Lombardo’s victory over Democrat Steve Sisolak in 2022 was the narrowest; just 1.51 percentage points separated the two candidates, or just more than 15,000 actual votes.

In a survey in February, Hart Research also found the race close, with 46% for Lombardo and 43% for Ford.

Favorability

The Noble survey found 40% of voters regarded Ford either very or somewhat favorably, with 33% reporting a somewhat or very unfavorable opinion of him. Another 19% had no opinion, and 8% had never heard of the attorney general.

Lombardo, meanwhile, was seen as either very or somewhat favorably by 48% of voters, with 38% saying they had a somewhat or very unfavorable opinion of the governor. Another 11% had no opinion, but only 1% had never heard of him.

Ford’s numbers may give Lombardo an opportunity to define his likely general election opponent, Noble said. Already, we have seen PAC-backed ads slamming Ford for spending time extensively outside Nevada, on trips related to his job or on vacation.

“So he [Ford] needs to get out there and define himself where Lombardo is also trying to define him,” Noble said. “So, definitely Lombardo has some advantages there. But I think the biggest advantage that Ford has in this is that he’s currently not in power, not the one making decisions.”

Ford has criticized Lombardo for vetoing bills that Ford claims would have reduced costs for Nevadans, including a bill that would have banned corporations from buying up single-family homes, a concept that even President Donald Trump later adopted in an executive order.

And Democrats frequently criticize Lombardo by trying to tie him to Trump, whose tariffs have raised costs for local businesses and whose attack on Iran has raised costs for fuel and fertilizer.

Noble said economics will be the key to this race. “And I think really from the research we’ve seen, whoever can message the best when it comes to addressing the pocketbook issues, jobs, economy, inflation, how are they going to keep more money in Nevadans’ pockets and give them some type of relief, and especially in affordable housing and other pocketbook areas. I think that is who’s going to end up ultimately winning,” he said.

Campaign reaction

Asked for a response, Ford campaign spokeswoman Prerna Jagadeesh aimed squarely at economics.

“Voters know that under Joe Lombardo, Nevada is suffering from high costs, sky-high unemployment, and an economy lagging behind the rest of the nation in job growth — all while Lombardo puts cheerleading for Trump over serving working families,” she said in a statement. “In contrast, Attorney General Aaron Ford has fought to lower costs and create new good-paying union jobs throughout his time in public service. Ford will continue to be laser-focused on making Nevada a place that Nevadans can afford to call home—and that’s why he will win in November.”

Ford served in the Nevada state Senate — rising to Senate majority leader — before he was elected attorney general in 2018.

The Lombardo campaign declined to comment on the poll results.

But in a Morning Consult survey, Lombardo had a 51%-34% approval rating. (The rest had no opinion.)

Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont was the most popular governor in the nation, with a 74%-19% approve/disapprove rating, while Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa was the least popular, with 49% disapproving and 43% approving.

The Nevada High School Musical Theater Awards, an annual celebration of outstanding student achievement in high school musical theater from schools throughout the state of Nevada, returns to the stage inside majestic Reynolds Hall on Sunday, May 3, 2026.

Tickets go on sale Tuesday, April 1 at 10 a.m. at TheSmithCenter.com. Discounted $10 early-bird seats will be available while supplies last.

The Nevada High School Musical Theater Awards is a regional awards program of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, also known as the Jimmy Awards®. The Smith Center invites public, private and charter high schools throughout Nevada to participate in its NVHSMTA program.

This year’s participants will be: American Heritage Academy, Arbor View High School, Bishop Gorman High School, Bonanza High School, Boulder City High School, Carson High School, Centennial High School, Ed W. Clark High School, Coronado High School, Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts, Desert Oasis High School, Desert Pines High School, Doral Red Rock High School, Faith Lutheran Conservatory of the Fine Arts, Foothill High School, Green Valley High School, Procter R. Hug High School, Lake Mead Christian Academy, Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, Legacy High School, Liberty High School, The Meadows School, Pahrump Valley High School, Shadow Ridge High School, Sierra Vista High School, Somerset Sky Pointe, Spring Valley High School and Western High School.

More than 20 awards will be presented during the event, in categories such as Outstanding Student Orchestra, Outstanding Costume Design and Creation, Outstanding Set Design and Construction and Outstanding Choreography Execution.

The show will also feature showcase performances from four schools, ensemble performances featuring all Lead Actor and Actress nominees and solo performances from 10 lead nominees.

In recognition of their dedication and talent, last year’s Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress – Chris Hayes from Las Vegas Academy of the Arts and Marie Muñoz from Bishop Gorman High School – received a complimentary 10-day trip to New York City, where they performed on a Broadway stage and represented Nevada in the Jimmy Awards®, named after legendary theater producer James M. Nederlander.

Hayes ultimately won the prestigious top spot for Best Performance by an Actor at the Jimmy Awards®, becoming Nevada’s first-ever male or female champion.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit TheSmithCenter.com or call 702-749-2000. Box Office phone hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Please note that The Smith Center Box Office is open two hours prior to each performance.