India's Lithium Dreams Fade as Auctions Fail

Last year India announced a massive discovery of lithium in the country’s northern Kashmir region and started laying the foundation for a mining boom of the in-demand mineral being referred to in some circles as “white gold.” However, it now seems that those boomtime dreams are disappearing into thin, Himalayan air.  In February 2023, the government of India broadcast the discovery of a reserve holding 5.9 million metric tons of lithium, making the South Asian nation home to the fifth-largest lithium reserve on the planet.…