r/technology Sep 10 '23

Transportation Lithium discovery in US 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
13.9k Upvotes

879 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

10

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '23

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.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '23

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '23

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.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '23

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Sep 11 '23

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.