It seems like Tesla plans to get lithium from clay, which might be different than the 80 million tons reported in the .gov article. Lithium, according to the presentation above, is so abundant that it isn't an issue to Elon Musk, especially if you believe his take on getting it easily from clay. I don't agree with this guy on a few points like his opinion that Tesla hasn't thoroughly explored lithium. Uhh, hell no. I'm sure they aren't just leaving out lithium from their product development, but every other element is under a microscope. It was an odd statement. Nevertheless, this was in interesting exchange.
Looks like the government is researching clay too.
https://www.usgs.gov/energy-and-mine...center_objects
More...
https://www.jadecove.com/research/teslasaltclay
News...more output and statements about lithium from clay...
https://auto.economictimes.indiatime...ction/78301845
https://www.reuters.com/article/albe...-idINL4N2JI2KS