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USGS uses machine learning to show large lithium potential in Arkansas

(www.usgs.gov)
337 points antidnan | 5 comments | 22 Oct 24 17:05 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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Animats ◴[22 Oct 24 21:33 UTC] No.41918949[source]▶
There's also a big lithium deposit in Nevada, and preparations for mining are underway there.[1] General Motors put in $650 million for guaranteed access to the output of this Thacker Mine.

It's in a caldera in a mountain that I-80 bypassed to go through Winnemuca, Nevada. Nearest town is Mill City, NV, which is listed as a ghost town, despite being next to I-80 and a main line railroad track. The mine site is about 12km from Mill City on a dirt road not tracked by Google Street View.

Google Earth shows signs of development near Mill City. Looks like a trailer park and a truck stop. The road to the mine looks freshly graded. Nothing at the mine site yet.

It's a good place for a mine. There are no neighbors for at least 10km, but within 15km, there's good road and rail access.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thacker_Pass_lithium_mine

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skyfaller ◴[23 Oct 24 03:40 UTC] No.41921563[source]▶
Not everyone agrees that this is a good place for a mine: https://www.protectthackerpass.org/

"to shut down the tar sands, we actually have to shut down the tar sands, not just blow up other mountains elsewhere and hope that leads to the end of the tar sands."

https://maxwilbert.substack.com/p/the-long-shadow-of-the-tar...

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MrBuddyCasino[dead post] ◴[23 Oct 24 06:31 UTC] No.41922394[source]▶
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shmageggy ◴[23 Oct 24 10:22 UTC] No.41923589[source]▶
Actually it looks like their arguments are presented entirely in terms of tradeoffs. They argue that the carbon benefit from electric cars (cited as very far down the list on e.g. https://drawdown.org/solutions/table-of-solutions) isn’t worth the cost to biodiversity, water use and pollution, cultural values and history, peacefulness and tranquility, etc. https://www.protectthackerpass.org/mining-lithium-at-thacker...
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1. whimsicalism ◴[23 Oct 24 15:38 UTC] No.41926140[source]▶
Frankly, these articles are obviously written from a very left-wing perspective with essentially no relevance on the American political stage.

None of the opinions stated in the protect* article are close to majority.

> > Benson’s argument is that “mining critical metals is a necessity for a greener future.” But I would ask—a necessity for whom? For example, do child slaves laboring in Congolese cobalt mines call this necessary? Cobalt is an essential ingredient in mobile phones and electric vehicle batteries, but those kids aren’t driving Tesla’s and listening to podcasts all day. They need liberation, not consumer toys.

“Liberation” is not the solution to extreme poverty in the Congo/DRC. You either need to convince wealthier societies to do vast wealth transfers or find a way to bootstrap a stronger economy, which very well might involve lithium mining.

replies(1): >>41930321 #
2. MrBuddyCasino ◴[23 Oct 24 23:32 UTC] No.41930321[source]▶
I would argue leftism is very relevant on the American political stage, at the very least since WWII.
replies(1): >>41940732 #
3. whimsicalism ◴[24 Oct 24 23:09 UTC] No.41940732[source]▶
Leftism is very relevant on the political stage, the type of leftism exemplified by this blog post is less so.
replies(1): >>41940798 #
4. krapp ◴[24 Oct 24 23:19 UTC] No.41940798{3}[source]▶
The leftism exemplified by this blog post resembles actual leftism. Unfortunately, it only really exists in the confinement zone of social media, and isn't allowed anywhere near the political stage.

What Americans consider "leftist" in their politics is just "socially progressive but center right." Hillary Clinton gets called a Communist, Barack Obama a Marxist. Americans wouldn't know an actual leftist if one threw a Molotov cocktail through their window.

replies(1): >>41940892 #
5. whimsicalism ◴[24 Oct 24 23:35 UTC] No.41940892{4}[source]▶
Sure, the people winning elections aren't part of the capital-L Left but that doesn't mean the capital-L Left isn't an important political force even in America.