There's lithium in them thar hills...

Ridgefielder wrote: ↑Mon Nov 08, 2021 4:32 pm I have no idea what the permitting process is in Maine. However, unlike a 180-mile-long 120kV power line, a mine would only impact the immediate surroundings.

There was a project to build a 180 mile long power line at that low voltage, barely transmission level? For efficiency that distance in New England is typically 345kV.

BandA wrote: ↑Sun Oct 31, 2021 2:18 pm Look for the Chinese to try to buy their land! And the tax assessor may be their biggest danger. According to the article, there are zero active large metal mines in Maine. The law on metal mines is to prevent toxic contamination from heavy metals and acid-releasing rock. But this Lithium ore is stable. Sounds like they are presently running it as a boutique gem-type mine.

The owners said in the article they would want to ship the ore (apparently LiAlSiO2) offsite for processing. Would only work as an open-pit mine > 3 acres which is illegal in Maine.

Lithium Ion batteries wear out, and presently very little lithium is recycled! The electrolyte in the batteries is very toxic when burned.

CP might finally get some export business for Searsport.

Much of what has been written in the responses in this thread about lithium (and Li-ion battery recyclability) and the generation of electricity is no longer true. I grant you, some of this was true even as little as 5 years ago - but things have been changing VERY rapidly in this sector.

To bring this back on topic, the amount of money involved, new mining techniques, the need to source materials locally because of the supply chain disruption - all these factors can affect things that seemed "impossible" to something that more resembles "well, maybe..."

The technology might be changing, but the process for approving a mine hasn't. It takes 10 to 20 years to go through the permitting processes. And even then, it's not guaranteed.

Just look at all the metals mines that have been proposed in Michigan and Minnesota.

Not one permit approved in the last ten years I can think of, aside from some paint ore from tailings, which isn't really mining since that was already mined and disposed of.... it's recycling....

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