Sending these rocks off to be refined in China helps in another, less discussed way too: it means Australia need not take responsibility for all the emissions produced when they are refined, which is rather a lot. Turning rocks into a refined product is, as you have already seen, a tough job involving a lot of energy and quite a lot of greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, lithium produced from hard rock is responsible for many multiples the greenhouse gas emissions and water usage of the lithium produced from the brines underneath the Salar in Chile. If you buy an electric car, there is usually
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