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Lithium mining isn't like gold/iron/other metal mining. It's more like salt harvesting. So trucking away loads of dirt/salt/rock/ore to a processing plant isn't viable. You have to process it on site which means huge ponds for evaporation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8-YDMzg2bY Interesting video on the Lithium extraction

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This is not correct. Lithium Spodumene Ore is often transported from West Australia to China for processing.

Do processing facilities like this exist closer to Maine than China? If not, a new one would need to be built, so I think the GP is still generally correct about the local impacts.

Tianqi built a converter in Kwinana for hydroxide (I was part of the build). But yeah you are correct for all the other small mines all sell to converters in China often through offtake agreements.

I knew there were projects going on didn't know any of them were done yet.

As I understand, Kwinana plant is done but closed for now. I found a Reuters article dated 2020-03-23, China's Tianqi postpones commissioning of Australia lithium plant amid liquidity problems.

https://www.reuters.com/article/tianqilithium-australia-idUS...

Your thinking of salars not hard rock deposits

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