Best in the Desert and Nevada Lithium address BATB meeting

BEATTY — The Beatty Town Advisory Board met on June 23 to discuss upcoming events and community concerns, with particular focus on the economic boost expected from the Vegas to Reno off-road race scheduled for mid-August.

Town officials noted that the Vegas to Reno weekend is typically one of the busiest of the year for local businesses. The board discussed preparations to ensure the town is ready to handle the expected influx of visitors and traffic.

Vegas to Reno Race Plans

Megan Van Cleve, assistant race director for Best in the Desert, discussed logistics for the 29th annual Vegas to Reno off-road race scheduled for August 15.

“This will be the 29th year that we’ve run Vegas to Reno, and we’re quite excited,” Van Cleve said. “The event is expected to bring in ‘300 to 350 professional teams,’ with each team traveling with ‘anywhere from two to 20 crew members, their family, their friends, usually between 1,200 and 2,000 people.’”

Speed zones will be strictly enforced, she explained: “Along the railroad passing, that is a 25-mile-an-hour speed zone and a NO passing zone. And on Sarcobatus Flats, it’s a 55-mile-an-hour speed zone and a NO passing zone.” Each vehicle will be GPS-tracked: “It tracks how fast they’re going, where they’re at. We are given a report as to what areas we designated to have that GPS tracking.”

On emergency services, Van Cleve noted that all support will be provided by a private contractor. “We will utilize any ambulances from primarily Vegas to ensure that Beatty’s ambulances are kept here. We do provide our own.”

Nevada Lithium: Updates on Bonnie Claire Project

In addition to tourism and event planning, the meeting addressed ongoing mining activity near Beatty. A presentation from mining representatives included updates on current exploration efforts in the region.

Steve Rentschler, CEO of Nevada Lithium, opened with a detailed status report on the Bonnie Claire Lithium Project near Sarcobatus Flats. “It’s been a year since I’ve seen everybody here,” he said. “We are progressing, but we’re going through a phase right now where you don’t see a lot of field work.”

The company expects to release an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment in four to six weeks, incorporating new data. “As we drill deeper over the course of the last, say, 18 months, we found that in fact, we were getting increasing grades… and we were finding another element called boron.”

On extraction methods, Rentschler explained: “You won’t have an open pit… It’s all going to be suspended. It’s going to be like a mud, very white, and it’s going to be pumped up.” He added, “There’s no stockpiles, nothing exposed to the air, so I don’t think that we’re going to have an issue with dust.”

The proposed mining process, borehole extraction, was further described: “The idea is that it would be entirely on site,” he said. “It comes out of the ground, goes right up into the plant, and it comes out as either a technical grade carbonate or a battery grade right there.”

Addressing water concerns, he noted, “We’re working with water engineers, with water consultants, with the different government agencies. That’s going to have to be solved.” He acknowledged the project’s financial challenges: “All of this is predicated on our ability to raise funds because we’re not a revenue-producing company right now.”

In response to a question about subsidence, Rentschler said, “If we just take the water out, there might be very well a depression that could be induced. I’m not an engineer, but it strikes me as that could be a possibility.”

Resident comments

During the public comment period, several residents raised concerns about the potential for mining operations to cause sinkholes, especially in areas popular for off-roading and desert racing.

A representative from the mining company responded that they understood the concerns but explained that the geology of the area and the techniques being used made the likelihood of sinkholes very low.

Board Actions

The board unanimously approved a letter of support for the race to be sent to the Bureau of Land Management, including specific mention of third-party emergency services.

Additionally, the board:

■ Approved meeting minutes for May 15 and June 9;

■ Waived Community Center and PA system rental fees for Beatty Days 2025 (October 31–November 2);

■ Reminded the public of a back-to-school immunization clinic on July 16 at the Community Center.

Thomas Hite is a freelance reporter living in Beatty.