From Rick Rule:-
"Yes, this stuff can be used in cell phones (in miniscule amounts). Yes, lithium has some future in batteries." But the fact is, Rick says, the worldwide market for rare earth elements is about $2 billion. As he works out the math, it doesn't work. "If you assume a 30% margin (which I don't know is reasonable number)," he figures, "you are talking about $600 million in EBITDA. At a 10 times EBITDA number, you're talking about a $6 billion prospective market cap of that industry."
He cites another mystifying bit of math.
"The largest lithium producer in the world is now down to 140 years' supply of lithium. The only reason they don't have a bigger supply is there's no particular sense spending money now to develop resources that you'll need in 150 years."
http://www.theaureport.com/pub/na/5818
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"