[culi]

That's a really silly take. It's like asking why nitrogen is such a limiting growth factor in almost every plant despite being so common in the air.

We're a long ways off from being able to harvest lithium from, e.g., saltwater in a way that doesn't require more energy put into it the energy that's saved by the technologies made with the mineral. There's only a few places where it makes even economic sense to mine lithium and the environmental effects are pretty devastating. Chemicals like hydrochloric acid nearly always contaminate nearby groundwater used by people and more-than-humans alike. Even in Australia where it's mined with more traditional methods from a rock, toxic chemicals are still required to process it into a usable form

[pengaru]

The impression I have is that since lithium is everywhere, this is just a matter of the extraction industries scaling up and maturing for that specific mineral. There will be a lot of players, the price is destined to plummet as long as it continues being the mass-market electrolyte of choice.

Unlike with something like a rare earth metal, which no amount of extraction optimization can put within your borders if your continent is geologically unlucky.