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A comment on Lithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ever found. Parent comment

Re:Lithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ... by Negitivefrags on Saturday September 09, 2023 @09:20PM (#37451998)
No, this isn’t always the problem.

People are not fungible resources. You can’t simply turn a programmer from Google into a Lithium miner by paying more.

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Re:Lithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ... by seanmcdirmid on Saturday September 09, 2023 @09:48PM (#37452142)
The expertise China has built up is only around 20 years old, so it’s not like we couldn’t develop it in 20 years. Doing so in a free market way that isn’t undercut by Chinese suppliers, however, would be tricky (so some non free market mechanism is needed).
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Re:Lithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ... by chii on Sunday September 10, 2023 @01:19AM (#37453122)
> so it’s not like we couldn’t develop it in 20 years.

20 yrs is a very long time.

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Re:Lithium discovery in US volcano could be biggest deposit ... by seanmcdirmid on Sunday September 10, 2023 @01:49AM (#37453259)
It’s not really that long, but I guess it depends on how old you are (perception of passing time speeds up rapidly after 40).
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