“We sorta take a chunk of dirt out of the ground, remove the lithium, and put the chunk of dirt back where it was. It will not look, like, terrible. It will be nice.”
Company's plan to produce lithium close to its Gigafactory faces stark challenges from the outset, including an onerous permitting process, uncertain access to water and questions about unproven methodologies.
The need for larger rechargeable batteries and more energy storage for 5G technology is expected to significantly boost demand for cobalt over coming years.