Thanks -- I thought it was Sonora Lithium Mine in Mexico, but it's actually Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia. It primarily mines copper and gold, not lithium (or coal). However, they both look very similar, being open-pit mines.
For uranium, there is 510 million square km of surface area on earth, what's the issue with "destroying" (a lot of the mines are in pretty uninhabitable places) a few sq km out of 510 million to power the human race?
Sure, but compare it with the alternatives. Oil and gas are obviously very destructive of ecosystems. But so are lots of renewables.
Here's what a silicon mine looks like (used to make solar panels): https://www.mining.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/anglogold-...
Here's a lithium mine (used to make batteries): https://assets.telecomtv.com/assets/telecomtv/open-cast-mine...
Here's a uranium mine (used for nuclear energy): https://energyeducation.ca/wiki/images/8/82/Openpit.jpg
Compared to these, the habitat displacement from hydro seems very mild. There simply is no energy source that is harmless.