[mikeIII]

It is my understanding that there is a significant lead time to get mining productive, and there are also some environmental issues to be dealt with.

The Chinese have already blackmailed us once in the recent past.

[CurlyDave]

...It is my understanding that there is a significant lead time to get mining productive, and there are also some environmental issues to be dealt with...

We have managed to tie ourselves in knots over environmental "issues" but other countries won't be that stupid.

Essentially we have rules that say if we dig something up from some Godforsaken spot in the desert, there are a bazillion things we have to do before we can put the leftovers back in some other Godforsaken spot in the desert. We don't add anything toxic, just move it from one place where nobody wants to be to another one pretty much like it.