Can you introduce the Governor’s Office for Economic Development (GOED) and its main missions?

The GOED is the governor’s agency that is charged with forward-facing economic development for the state of Nevada. With the Biden administration’s focus on infrastructure, we are a coordinating agency for federal money coming through the state. Today, the main activity we are seeing in the mining space is related to lithium, as we try to deal with climate change through electrification. There are 24-25 firms trying to bring lithium deposits into commercial production in Nevada. We have the opportunity to implement the entire lithium value chain in our state: from extraction to processing of the anodes and cathodes that go into the batteries. Of the 50 states, we will be the only one who can complete the entire circle.

How can the industry attract further talent and mitigate future labor shortages?

One of the changes in Nevada is that the mining industry used to rotate mine managers every 2-3 years, now what I’m seeing is that mine managers are there for the long term; they live full-time in these communities. This leads to a much deeper engagement in local communities. In 2000, there was a recession, gold prices were down, and students weren’t enrolling in mining programs at the universities. There is almost a missing generation of mining lawyers, water consultants, and technology workers in the US. What I see now is a deeper interest in higher education by the mining industry. It is easier to try to keep someone in the mining business who grew up around it. It is not an industry you experience in the US unless you are in it. The first place for education in local communities. There are special opportunities for veterans. Miners want to be self-sufficient. They go to places no one has been before and take care of business themselves. This means they are not always in the loop in terms of community, workforce, and training programs. We are trying to bring mining into a high-level engagement with state programs.

What is your view on relations between miners and local communities?

Miners have worked diligently in that area. They have more corporate responsibility and ESG staff than ever before. The challenge in Nevada is that only 13% of Nevadans were born in the state, and 85% of our population lives in urban areas, so mining is in a constant state of having to reintroduce itself.

How much emphasis is put on securing a domestic lithium supply chain at the federal level?

I was in Washington DC full-time until 2012, and I cannot recall going to a White House meeting trying to figure out how to advance the mining industry. This has changed. The National Security Council has taken an interest in the mining laws of 1972 and lithium projects permitting. Before, these were always considered to be “Western issues”. They are now national issues with national security applications.

What is your outlook on Nevada’s role in the lithium supply in the US?

Projects in Nevada will require multi-billion-dollar investments, with workforce forces exceeding the thousands. This could reshape a large part of our economy. I recently had meetings at the University of Nevada-Reno, as the university system will play a key role in the R&D side of this expansion. We have had meetings with the BLM to anticipate community impacts as a large part of our state is on federal land. Our staff likes to say that Nevada will become the lithium capital of the US, and I am seeing that coming together, particularly after the series of grants allocated by the DOE to several lithium projects in Nevada.

What will be the GOED main’s priorities in the coming months?

If we want to fix workforce issues, we need to ensure there is broadband in rural areas to ensure generations X and Y will live there. We will focus on permitting efficiency, helping people through the process, and helping the industry get itself organized. We believe in public intervention and the “visible hand”, where government and industry come together to help the industry get the standing it needs to address the issues it faces.