Simbol Materials fired the vast majority of its employees last week, casting serious doubt on the company's claims it will bolster the Imperial Valley's struggling economy and reshape global lithium ...

In a lengthy report published yesterday, the Desert Sun described the demise of a young lithium extraction startup and how Tesla tried and failed to buy it for $325 million in TSLA stock back in 2014.

The letter from Elon Musk left no doubt about his intentions: He wanted Simbol Materials, and he was willing to pay handsomely for it. Simbol claimed it had developed extraordinary technology for ...