Excellent analysis. People forget the economics of things from the state / people's perspective. Also, a certain number of people, very small but not zero, w

Excellent analysis. People forget the economics of things from the state / people's perspective. Also, a certain number of people, very small but not zero, will get sick and die. All of those nasty diseases that come from any mine operation, especially something nasty like lithium. Those sick people will go on Maine's disability / unemployment insurance / LTC / Medicaid / Medicare's system. Some of those people will live decades with cancer, their medical care paid for by the state (as it should). At current prices, like you said, it might literally cost Maine more to open the mine than to leave the lithium in the ground, especially once you factor in environmental cleanup and healthcare costs.