The manufacturing strength of a country was once measured in its use of sulfuric acid. The measure today is in lithium.

Increasing in use as the core ingredient in rechargeable batteries, it is found in many items from cell phones to cars. Control of the resource is a modern version of oil security.

At the present, the U.S. finds itself at the mercy of suppliers. We need to succeed in establishing a non-interruptable supply chain, as we have accomplished with petroleum in the Mississippi Lime and other formations.

America’s lithium mining industry dates back to the 1950s when it was used in th...