The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) issued information yesterday on a lithium mining drilling project proposed by SDO Services LLC (SDO). The project would involve drilling 55 exploration holes along Old Hill City Road about 2 miles west of Keystone and about a mile from Mount Rushmore National Monument.

In South Dakota, the DANR gives out exploration permits to whoever applies for them and files basic information. Maps of drill sites are confidential, and cultural resource and reclamation plans are minimal.

This is outrageous. We need to change state laws so that this doesn’t keep happening at sites that are at the core of our tourism industry, like Pactola Reservoir, Spearfish Canyon, and Mt. Rushmore. While mining used to be important in the Black Hills, it now employs less than one percent of our workers. Modern tourists would not be impressed by an industrial operation along a scenic road or near the most famous National Monument outside D.C. and a destination for millions of people each year. And, of course, the entire area is an important cultural site for Lakota people.

This is just one of a number of potential lithium exploration and mining projects in the area. Active lithium mining claims circle Hill City and Custer on three sides and Keystone on four sides. Claims stretch along Highway 16 south of Custer and along both sides of Highway 385 all the way to Pringle and to the south. The mineral is popular right now because it is used in electric vehicle batteries, a technology that is being pushed by the federal government. It is harmful to humans and wildlife, and lithium mining and processing use and contaminate a lot of water. Lithium mining is also a problem because the mineral catches fire.

SDO is based in Sioux Falls and formed in April. It is a subsidiary of Midwest Lithium, which is based in Switzerland. The Project Manager is a part-time, temporary instructor at SD School of Mines who, according to the most recent information we could find, lives in New Mexico.

We are tired of foreign corporations treating the Black Hills like a national sacrifice area for the mining industry’s profits. We ask you to object to this project – now and loudly. Contact the Secretary of the SD DANR, Hunter Roberts, at 605-773-5559 and say you object to a lithium exploration permit being issued to SDO Services, and contact your State Legislators and ask them to change the way lithium exploration and mining are ramrodded through.

To find your State Legislators, go to Find My Legislators | South Dakota Legislature (sdlegislature.gov)

DANR Information includes: https://danr.sd.gov/Press/docs/publicnotices/MineralsMining/SDONOF.pdf