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The key bit: “Yet lithium is a metal, and state regulations passed in 2017 prohibit mining for metals in open pits of more than three acres, which would be the
by smarx007 5y ago
The key bit:
“Yet lithium is a metal, and state regulations passed in 2017 prohibit mining for metals in open pits of more than three acres, which would be the only way to cost-effectively extract lithium at Plumbago North.
“I don’t know of any underground and manganese or lithium mines in the world,” said Dr. John Slack, a geologist who co-authored a separate upcoming paper on critical minerals in Maine.
“Because those metals have a relatively low cost, in terms of their concentration per ton or per ounce, you need to excavate large volumes of rock cheaply in order to economically and profitably produce the metal you’re interested in.””
Basically, Maine demands that whatever mining is done, is done underground, like coal. But open carrier mining is cheaper. If all this lithium is so important, someone will find a way to mine it properly underground, I guess.
- JacobDotVI 5y agoI find this more relevant: "But [the lithium] reserves also would not present the same type of potential environmental issues as ... other base metal sulfide deposits in Maine, such as Bald Mountain. That’s because the Plumbago North deposit does not occur in, or contain, sulfide-rich rocks, said Slack and Simmons. Mining for lithium there would instead be similar to quarrying for granite or gravel." Are rock queries outlawed? I don't believe so. Thus, is this a lithium rock query or a lithium mineral mine?
- Loughla 5y ago3 acres, I'm assuming, is the issue. That's not really that big. It's actually really quite small. The only open pit mine I'm familiar with is measured in the literal thousands of acres. Hell, the local gravel pit that supplies the VERY rural area I live in is over 70 acres.
- JacobDotVI 5y agoI think this is part of that distinction. Likely a gravel pit would _not_ be considered "mineral mining" and so would be permitted at a size greater than 3 acres.
- tantalor 5y agoIf all this lithium is so important, someone will find a way to change the law.
- MrBuddyCasino 5y agoSee fracking. Unfortunately, it was so profitable they irreversably poisoned the ground water to do it.
- postingawayonhn 5y agoIt's only important at the right price.