Having seen some former open pit mines I'm not entirely sure the environmental review is "ridiculous." One of them was basically a huge open pit full of acid.
replyMine the metal or do without the tech that uses it. You have to choose. Years of environmental review do not help.
replyThat pit also happens to be a great place to do rare earths extraction since there is zero chance of it ever being cleaned up.
replyThe acid is natural btw just from things leeching out of the rock walls.