Lithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ever found

[u/ourlifeintoronto]

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/lithium-discovery-in-us-volcano-could-be-biggest-deposit-ever-found/4018032.article

[u/GeneticsGuy]

Lithium is one of the most abundant materials on the planet. The REAL fear has been finding "cheap" access to it as they didn't want to pay a premium. Australia alone has so much lithium it probably has enough to provide for the entire world for the next 1000 years on their own, but Australia lithium is expensive because it's mining it in a 1st world nation with 1st world wages. China, on the other hand, has mass reserves of lithium and they sell it liquid dirt cheap, so lots of people like to get it from China, or in Africa, for these 3rd world labor prices.

So, whenever you hear about "shortages" of supply and so on, just know it is mostly fearmongering by corporate media that isn't telling you the whole story in many cases.

[u/[deleted] → u/GeneticsGuy]

In my mind it’s similar to oil. Always good to have a reserve of a critical resource within the country. We might not mine it, but having it available gives us much much more bargaining power.

[u/Allydarvel → u/GeneticsGuy]

So, whenever you hear about "shortages" of supply and so on, just know it is mostly fearmongering by corporate media that isn't telling you the whole story in many cases.

The main problem is those mines take time to come online and demand doesn't wait until the mines are ready. This has pushed the price of lithium up so that it is almost unaffordable in some applications. There's a huge amount of research into batteries that don't use lithium, so its possible by the time the mines start producing that lithium will not be required in the expected quantities. Two Chinese companies are already offering vehicles with sodium-ion batteries.

[u/[deleted] → u/GeneticsGuy]

Not really about wages, just permitting costs and obstructionists abound.

But yeah, there's no shortage of cheap lithium. It's just ignorant market perception driving the hype at this point.

Prices will crash in short order.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

That's not the same thing. Obstructionists don't want anything- it's not about "doing things right" it's about making sure nothing can be mined ever.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Look up the Center for Biological Diversity. They're "watchdogs" that go shopping for headline mining projects, and look for (very often) specious reasons to generate an outcry and a lawsuit. It's their business model. Basically, now-grownups of the earth first movement from the 90's that needed to make their "cause" pay well and provide a comfy lifestyle. Generate an outcry over whatever, donations pour in. They're basically circling like vultures any advanced stage mining project in the US. that's the type of obstructionist I'm talking about. And they're going after small companies that don't have a lot of money quite often.

Plenty of groups like them- it's often a lifestyle, environmental lawsuit non-profit business model with staff lawyers that pay themselves a few hundred grand a year each for a pretty basic, low stress job. That's open to the public.

It's all about money for them, too. And they paint the mining industry in a VERY negative light that's downright rotten.

[u/WenzelDongle → u/GeneticsGuy]

It's not widely understood that "reserves" is an economic term. Something classed as such means that it can be extracted profitably. There are many more resources around the world than can be found in reserves, and many will become reserves if the price goes up.

[u/deelowe → u/GeneticsGuy]

So, whenever you hear about "shortages" of supply and so on, just know it is mostly fearmongering by corporate media that isn't telling you the whole story in many cases.

Some lithium sources are simply too expensive to mine. It's not "fear mongering" when corporations complain about lithium sources citing concerns about long term viability due to costs.

[u/Langsamkoenig → u/GeneticsGuy]

If China has such mass reserves, why do they mine barely any? The vast majority of lithium is mined in Australia and Chile.

[u/MetalGhost99 → u/GeneticsGuy]

Now we have allot more than anyone else. This mine is double of the second biggest mine in the world which is much more than what Australia has.