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> Also it is likely that, because of environmental regulations, it is not possible to mine the lithium economically. I haven't kept up, but the lack of lithium
by EdwardDiego 3y ago
> Also it is likely that, because of environmental regulations, it is not possible to mine the lithium economically. I haven't kept up, but the lack of lithium production in the US suggests that there are regulatory factors at play.
That's a large assumption to make without any investigation.
- roenxi 3y agoIt would be. But I've made a lot of investigations.
- dtgriscom 3y ago{citation needed}
- roenxi 3y agoI've done modelling work for mine planning projects when people were deciding where to put a mine. Quite a lot of it. Lithium has been a trendy commodity for years. If the US doesn't have a lot of active lithium mines - which it does not - it is going to be because of legislative impediments. Probably environmental ones. There aren't a lot of other reasons. It is common for environmental restrictions as the root cause of mines not being started, particularly in lithium from what I gathered. You're not going to get a citation, this is literally just stuff I happened to know quite well a few years ago.
- Sabinus 3y agoIt's a pretty well understood fact that lithium processing has withered in the West because currently it's an extremely polluting process.