In this Sept. 13, 2018, photo, exploration drilling continues for Permitting Lithium Nevada Corp.'s Thacker Pass Project on the site between Orovada and Kings Valley, in Humboldt county, Nev., shown beyond a driller's shovels in the distance. A high-stakes, yearlong legal battle over a huge lithium mine planned in Nevada resumes Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, with courtroom arguments from lawyers for the mining company, the federal agency that approved it and the rancher, tribes and conservationists who are fighting it. (Suzanne Featherston/The Daily Free Press via AP) **FILE**