New rules would allow the testing needed to build an open-pit mine over the largest hard rock lithium deposit in the U.S.

In a unanimous vote, the Board of Environmental Protection has amended Maine's prohibitive mining rules to allow for open-pit excavation of certain clean energy metals.

The provisional amendment, still under final consideration, is the refinement of a state law adopted last July intended to restrict mining and processing resources containing polluting sulfides and the like. The provision requires applicants seeking an open-pit mining exemption to prove the operation will not violate state water quality standards or expose radioactive materials.

If adopted and met with successful testing, this would allow for the extraction of non-reactive minerals like spodumene, the hard rock source of lithium. This, in turn, opens the way to what may be Maine's best-kept secret – a game-changing discovery of lithium-rich rock worth at least $1.5 billion on the Newry property of retirees Mary and Gary Freemen back in 2018.

Voracious gem hunters, the couple bought up several parcels of land over the last few years and did much of the initial digging themselves. The discovery is Mary's; while on a hunt for colorful tourmaline, she sighted massive spodumene crystals jutting from the earth less than a mile (about 1.5 kilometers or 0.9 miles) northwest of the famous Dunton gem tourmaline pegmatite.

Henri Koskinen for Adobe Stock

Lithium mica lepidolite and spodumene crystal with minor inclusions of red lithium tourmaline. Tourmaline in several radiant colors is commonly found in the area of Plumbago Mountain.

The couple hopes to excavate what may be the world's richest lithium deposit, even taking their case to Superior Court in 2023 in an effort to clarify what is considered a metal under Maine's 2017 strict but at times confusingly worded mining law.

"This is going to be a very important source of lithium in the future," said William Simmons, a mineralogist at the University of New Orleans and co-author with Mr. Freeman of a definitive paper on the discovery.

Preliminary results from roughly 10 tons of ore demonstrated a higher average lithium content than any of the top ten spodumene-producing deposits in the world. This is from what is estimated to be a 10 million metric-ton mountain deposit hosting stunning examples of some of the world's largest spodumene crystals (over 36 feet) as well as huge (nearly 10 foot) montebrasite crystals.

Wading through legalese

In a rare interview, Mary Freeman told The Maine Monitor, "If mining can be handled in an environmentally responsible manner, what is the value of excluding Maine from participating in a viable sector of the economy?"

Last fall, the DEP granted the couple permission to expand the existing open-pit quarry up to 10 acres but denied the request to extract the crystals, saying the mineral would fall under the Metallic Mineral Mining Act. If the Freemans wanted to excavate, they would have to apply for permits under the Act, a costly, years-long process for two retirees to take on.

"I don't understand why metal mining would be applied to this type of mine at all," said Simmons. "It doesn't make any sense to me."

In late October of 2023, the Freemans filed two appeals, one with the Board of Environmental Protection, an independent group that presides over the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) decisions, and another in Kennebec County Superior Court.

Board Chair Susan Lessard rejected the Freemans' appeal in November, writing that the board no longer had jurisdiction over the case, in part because authority had been transferred to the court and because the board couldn't process the appeal without a mining permit application, so there was no final licensing decision for the board to review.

In court filings, the couple said they didn't apply for a permit under a regulatory program that they did not believe applied to the proposed activity, one which required two years of surveys before filing and prohibited the very activity being proposed.

At the crux of both appeals was the phrasing of the 2017 law, which centers on "metallic minerals" without further definition. Most minerals contain metallic elements, but the term has no commonly agreed-upon definition in the scientific community.

The proposed operation can be considered similar to quarrying for limestone – which contains calcium, also considered a metallic element – used in cement manufacturing.

Limestone extraction has a long history in Maine and is regulated under quarrying standards, not the Mining Act, partly because it doesn't pose the same risks as mining for base metals like copper, iron, lead or zinc.

"This has been a big lift," concluded Lessard, "I think the department has done a very good job of trying to enact some rules to go along with what the Legislature adopted in the most protective way that they were able."

Uncertain future

Despite government and industry interest in building up a domestic lithium market, Nevada's Silver Peak mine is the country's only operational lithium mine, which pumps lithium-rich brine from underground into large evaporation ponds. There are at least a hundred more hopeful domestic lithium mines in the U.S. in the permitting process, most of which are brine-based.

The main venture making headlines is California's Salton Sea, where large-scale projects aimed at using technology known as Direct Lithium Extraction are well underway. If these methods succeed and are financially viable, the process could have lower environmental impacts than hard rock mining and also generate clean, renewable geothermal energy.

"Do I think what's going on at the Salton Sea will replace any or all lithium mining in this country?" said Corby Anderson, a professor and associate director at the Colorado School of Mines. "No, I don't. It's not a panacea. It's an opportunity."

As one of the rare few hard rock lithium deposits in the U.S., the Freemen's Newry mine would be cleaner, cheaper, and more efficient than brine extraction.

Mary Freeman via Maine Monitor

Gary Freeman beside one of the giant spodumene crystals containing unusually high concentrations of lithium oxide by weight at Plumbago North in Newry, Maine.

These types of deposits form when magma intrudes into the crust and crystalizes as it cools. While hard-rock lithium is costlier to mine, it is much quicker to market and yields a more valuable form of lithium than brining.

Initially, the Freemans intended to sell to the battery market, which could require chemical processing on-site or nearby. Later, they considered selling the raw spodumene ore to scientific glass manufacturers, which could sidestep even more permitting and setbacks around the nature of lithium processing.

If the Freemans plan on excavating and selling only the larger spodumene crystals, another entity could then extract the lithium outside the state.

In either event, the Freemans will still have to conduct extensive testing and sampling to show the exposed deposit would not react to air or water if developed into an open-pit mine. Spodumene is non-reactive, but other potentially present metals, such as copper and silver, discharge harmful acids when exposed to the elements.

The Newry spodumene deposit still has hurdles – it is believed to host some galena, a mineral that contains lead sulfide with the potential of leaching, which, in combination with iron sulfide, is the major culprit in acidic mine drainage.

Björn Wylezich for Adobe Stock

Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide with the potential of leaching, which, combined with iron sulfide, is the major culprit in acidic mine drainage.

"We are uncertain if galena is present at levels that are dangerous, but the only way to know would be through detailed characterization of the deposit in the manner that these rule amendments propose," said Nick Bennett, a staff scientist at Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM).

NRCM supported the provisional rule partly because the Board of Environmental Protection decided to add back in requirements that an applicant would have to conduct real-world testing, or kinetic testing, to ensure there is nothing reactive in the deposit before a mining exemption is granted.

"We are supportive of the proposed rules that DEP drafted and BEP approved because we believe they would only allow open-pit mining of metallic minerals when that extraction presents a very low risk to water quality and the environment," Bennett said.