[JacobDotVI]

I find this more relevant:

"But [the lithium] reserves also would not present the same type of potential environmental issues as ... other base metal sulfide deposits in Maine, such as Bald Mountain. That’s because the Plumbago North deposit does not occur in, or contain, sulfide-rich rocks, said Slack and Simmons. Mining for lithium there would instead be similar to quarrying for granite or gravel."

Are rock queries outlawed? I don't believe so. Thus, is this a lithium rock query or a lithium mineral mine?

[Loughla]

3 acres, I'm assuming, is the issue. That's not really that big. It's actually really quite small.

The only open pit mine I'm familiar with is measured in the literal thousands of acres. Hell, the local gravel pit that supplies the VERY rural area I live in is over 70 acres.

[JacobDotVI]

I think this is part of that distinction. Likely a gravel pit would _not_ be considered "mineral mining" and so would be permitted at a size greater than 3 acres.