# Episode 231: Dr. Tom Benson Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-global-lithium-podcast-1191702/episode-231-dr-tom-benson Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-global-lithium-podcast-1191702/episode-231-dr-tom-benson.md Podcast: [The Global Lithium Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-global-lithium-podcast-1191702) Published: 2026-03-11T23:11:04+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/globallithium/episodes/Episode-231-Dr--Tom-Benson-e3gacqo Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/e113880/podcast/play/116781336/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-2-11%2F80291926-eb7a-a000-8ce1-f0f1c91aefd2.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-global-lithium-podcast-1191702/episodes/episode-231-dr-tom-benson Duration seconds: 3856 ## Resource Tom Benson (aka the "Doctor of Volcanoes") is the Vice President of Exploration at Lithium Argentina. Topics: Being creative in exploration The major upgrade to the Cauchari - Olaroz resource Bigger than the Atacama? Tom's history at Thacker Pass Lithium Africa - Tom's latest focus The Africa lithium "recipe" Use of new technology & AI in exploration "Permitting Purgatory" Making Africa a lithium success Comments on the Smackover & Salton Sea It's "nice to be nice" Rapid fire ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-global-lithium-podcast-1191702/episodes/episode-231-dr-tom-benson/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-global-lithium-podcast-1191702/episode-231-dr-tom-benson.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.