Judge won’t block digging at lithium mine Mine planned on land 25 miles south of Nev.-Ore. border By SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press Published: July 26, 2021, 5:46pm Share: RENO, Nev. — A federal judge has denied environmentalists’ request for a court order temporarily blocking the government from digging trenches for archaeological surveys at a mine planned near the Nevada-Oregon line with the biggest known U.S. deposit of lithium. U.S. District Judge Miranda Du said in an 11-page ruling late Friday in Reno that four conservation groups failed to prove the trenches planned across a total of one-quarter acre would cause irreparable harm to sage brush that serves as critical habitat for imperiled sage grouse.