And things get complicated

NASA opposes lithium mining at tabletop flat Nevada desert site used to calibrate satellites

An ancient Nevada lakebed beckons as a vast source of the coveted element needed to produce cleaner electric energy and fight global warming. But NASA says the same site — flat as a tabletop and undisturbed like none other in the Western Hemisphere — is indispensable for calibrating the razor-sharp measurements of hundreds of satellites orbiting overhead.

“No other location in the United States is suitable for this purpose,” the Bureau of Land Management concluded in April, meaning the measuring purpose, not the lithium mining purpose.

Barring a new bettery technology, lithium stands to be a more rare and politically disruptive resource than oil if we're going to convert the worlds automotive fleet to electric vehicles.