Help me understand this.You get sent a barrel of brine, have it...

Help me understand this.

You get sent a barrel of brine, have it sitting there in your lab. Get a testing kit to test for Lithium. Test the brine for Lithium. Get results.

This test takes 6 months? So is it a 40 hour week x 4 weeks x 6 months equals 960 hours.

Does this test require 960 hours worth of work or am I underestimating the complexity of testing a bit of brine for Lithium? Will it take another 960 hours or even more? Could a test this complex even be completed this century?

It must be such a difficult test. Thank god we have the experts working on it for us.