Lithium mining will be the worst environmental catastrophe in world history.
I know noting about such mining but assuming that it is a “dirty” business there can be no doubt that China wouldn’t give a rat’s hindquarters. They’d be willing to destroy a region,or country...even their own...if it meant Yen,Euros,Dollars,Pounds,etc.
Lithium mining operations will all be run by the People’s Liberation Army of Communist China, as they will have the stranglehold on the regions of the world where recoverable lithium is to be found, not the least of which is Afghanistan, so recently fallen into the Red Chinese hegemony.
And they won’t bother with any of the environmental protection stuff, either. Any lithium reserves within reach of the United States cannot be recovered, as the paperwork could stretch for years, and then only a trickle would be produced.
Why? In general it is done by solar evaporation of brine.