I recently read an article where vast amounts of lithium were discovered in Aphganistan which though would take years to get the infrastructure in place, would make Aphganistan a far wealthier and prosperous nation.
Thus China, Russia and the US all seeking how to resolve the Aphganistan dilemas which prevent mining these and other deposits of metals they've discovered there.
The race for untapped resources throughout the world is certainly behind many of the political decisions we see happening today....with China on a major push in every country where they are found...including the USA.
Whatever you read, it is nonsense.
As a result of the way that the lithium was made during the creation, it is only found as trace amounts in soil scattered throughout the world.