By Elena Dusi (La Repubblica)
We go in search of the lithium mine.
"
Never seen, sorry,
" said a resident of Cesano, shrugging his shoulders.
On the other hand, it is a revelation for the gas station attendant in this village in the northwest suburb of Rome: “
That's why a customer said to me one day: congratulations, you're rich!
I didn't know.
A little further north, in the town of Campagnano, on the loam covered with wild flowers, a man finally gave us a hint: “
The mine is there, all around us.
But no trace of lithium, said "
white gold
“, this precious metal that is used for car batteries, mobile phones or in solar systems and whose price has jumped in 2022, from 14,000 to 80,000 euros per ton.
Only an Amazon warehouse protrudes from the fields.
Another sign of the times.
A map of lithium
Andrea Dini, geologist at the National Research Council (CNR) and co-author of a mapping of lithium in Italy published…
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