America Just Hit the Lithium Jackpot - The Atlantic
If current technological trends continue apace, lithium could one day be as important to a nation’s economy as steel was during the 20th century. China seems to have foreseen this coming surge in demand well before America’s energy companies or policy makers did. Chinese companies have discovered large lithium deposits in the arid Qinghai province, northeast of Tibet, while mineral processors are buying up lithium ore from mines in Australia, Chile, and Bolivia. The new deposit in Nevada could eventually shift that balance of power, but it won’t be out of the ground and inside batteries manufactured in America for a long time.