The project in Nevada is key to Biden's clean energy agenda, but the mining plan appears destined for a legal battle with conservationists who say it will drive an endangered wildflower to extinction.

The U.S. Interior Department on Thursday gave final approval to Ioneer' s Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine in Nevada, the first domestic source of the battery metal to be permitted by President Joe Biden's administration and one that will become a key supplier to Ford and other electric vehicle manufacturers.

Federal officials on Thursday granted final approval to a southwestern Nevada lithium mining project, which they say could supply enough of the resource to power nearly 370,000 electric vehicles