r/science • u/Sort_of_Frightening • Sep 10 '23

Chemistry Lithium discovery in U.S. volcano could be biggest deposit ever found

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/lithium-discovery-in-us-volcano-could-be-biggest-deposit-ever-found/4018032.article
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u/BS-O-Meter Sep 10 '23

What is it that makes you think that those miners will be better off without a job than with a job with bad conditions?

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u/spambearpig Sep 10 '23

That’s a valid point and it is a very complicated issue. The world is looking at massive lithium expansion at the moment. So in reality, I think it would be more of a case of fewer new miners being hired than many existing miners losing their jobs. But nevertheless, it’s taking money from one country.

But I’m pretty sure the USA is well within their rights to mine their own lithium rather than keep, importing it from somebody else. The customer doesn’t really owe the shopkeeper a job.

But I imagine, robotics will also threaten manual mining jobs. Perhaps quite a lot more seriously than the USA mining some more lithium themselves.

But perhaps AI and robotics can help an impoverished country with bad working standards to improve living standards for its people.

Perhaps not. It’s a tough world.