With the current Lithium price sitting at near USD 20k per ton it looks quite strong right now and for the foreseeable future but if prices fall operations with lower overheads will be in the box seat.
Brine operations have an edge due to their lower costs and their environmentaly friendlier methods. Given EV's are about lowering global emissions overall this may become a prerequisite one day for material sourcing. I am pretty sure Elon Musk has hinted this in the past.