Lithium from Brine:
Salty Approaches

A presentation given by Dr Warren at the GSA-CET LITHIUM WORKSHOP, Feb. 12, 2024, Perth Australia

Abstract

Lithium is extracted from brine in saline, high-altitude, intermontane settings in the Andes and the Himalayas. Salar de Atacama, Chile, exemplifies the extraction process in the Andes. Brines are naturally enriched by capillary evaporation beneath the subaerial halite nucleus, where pore waters can reach lithium values as high as 1600 ppm. Lithium-enriched natural brines are pumped and passed through a series of bittern ponds until they reach the carnallite-bischofite brine stage, attaining lithium levels as high as 6000 ppm. End brines are then extracted and processed to produce lithium carbonate. Zabuye Caka (Lake Zabuye) exemplifies the extraction process in Tibet's high-altitude perennial heliothermal lithium carbonate lakes. Lithium carbonate (zabuyelite) is a natural precipitate in this highly saline lake (TDS ≈ 350-440 ppm). In Zabuye Caka, the Zabuyelite precipitation process in a series of perennial concentrator pans about the margin of the southern overflow lake can be facilitated by a heliothermal heat exchange system, the addition of soda ash and holding the winter concentrator pans at the cryogenic mirabilite stage.

The four links mentioned as being in the workshop pdf are given below. Additional free videos can be accessed from the online lithium course curriculum when an eye appears next to a topic.