“Much of the world’s lithium is extracted from brine, but abundant deposits—such as those in the Appalachians—also exist in hard-rock ore. The problem is that extracting lithium from hard rock is expensive and energy-intensive; it typically requires baking the ore above 1,000 degrees Celsius and prolonged chemical leaching. In an attempt to make hard-rock lithium more economical, a group of researchers has developed a lower-temperature process for extracting lithium from spodumene, the main source of hard-rock lithium. The researchers estimate their process could cut hard-rock lithium extraction costs in half, and they are now working on commercializing the technology,” reports The Doomslayer.
This is important, because
Lithium is a critical resource essential for rechargeable batteries, including those used in electric vehicles, portable electronics such as laptops and phones, and electrical grid storage. Chinese companies presently account for two-thirds of worldwide lithium battery processing capacity.
“We have simply made it too difficult to permit a mine here in the United States and that must change. If China wants a new mine, they can open one tomorrow. But it takes 29 years to bring a mine online in the U.S. – the second longest timeline in the world; that’s not sustainable”….
Only Zambia takes longer to permit mining projects.
The United States Geological Survey explains that
The southern Appalachians hold an estimated 1.43 million metric tons of lithium oxide, concentrated in the Carolinas, and the northern Appalachians hold an estimated 900,000 metric tons, concentrated in Maine and New Hampshire….The lithium is present in pegmatites, large-grained rocks similar to granite. “The Appalachians contain enough lithium to help meet the nation’s growing needs – a major contribution to U.S. mineral security, at a time when global lithium demand is rising rapidly,” said USGS Director Ned Mamula.
America needs “permitting reform and other policy changes to support investment” in new mines, “and mining workforce training for new American jobs,” Mamla says. “The United States was the dominant world producer of lithium three decades ago,” and we can “reclaim our mineral independence” by making it easier to open mines and extract minerals.
MIT News adds that
Extracting lithium from hard rock today is an energy- and waste-intensive process that is often far more expensive than getting lithium from brine water, which also has major environmental drawbacks. Currently, lithium hard rock extraction involves baking the rock at over 1,000 Celsius and chemically leaching it to extract lithium. The rest of the rock is discarded.
Now, a team of researchers from MIT and elsewhere has developed a low-temperature process for extracting battery-grade lithium from the most common type of lithium-bearing mineral. The process uses a liquid reagent to dissolve the rock into the useful forms of its constituent parts: not just battery-ready lithium salts, but also smelter-grade alumina and cement-ready silica. After the minerals are extracted, the solvent and reagent can be recovered and used again so waste levels approach zero.
The researchers estimate the closed-loop process is half the cost of traditional lithium hard rock extraction and could make it cost-competitive with extracting lithium from brine water.
A paper describing the process was published today in Science. The researchers have already begun commercializing the technology through an MIT spinout, Rock Zero.
Lithium supplements may help with Alzheimer’s disease.
Lithium-fee sodium batteries are now being produced in the U.S.
Tesla is building the largest lithium refinery in the United States.
Massive lithium production is planned at the Great Salt Lake, using a new technique.
A new lithium mine near the border of Nevada and California may soon produce up to 40,000 tons of lithium annually, reducing America’s reliance on China for this critical mineral.
