Source: http://geology.com/
Source: http://geology.com/
Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest potential source of lithium, although it is not currently producing. Uyuni has a total surface area of 9,000 to 10,500 km2 and contains a layer of halite with interstitial brine that is enriched in lithium, potassium, magnesium, and boron. Concentrations of lithium in this brine are reported in the literature range from 80 ppm to 4,700 ppm. COMIBOL has drilled two test holes, which identified 11 salt-brine layers separated by clay layers totalling 170 meters in thickness. Further evaluation is needed to determine the extent of these separate horizons that could produce lithium economically. A pilot mining and processing project was started in May 2008. Recent estimates for Uyuni’s lithium resources range from 0.6 to 9.0 Mt. Tahil’s estimate is the most conservative, at 0.6 Mt, whereas estimates by Anstett el al,
Garrett, Clarke and Harben, Yaksic and Tilton,and Evans (2008), are between 5 and 5.5Mt. Evans (2009) and Risacher and Fritz round out the top end of the range, at 8.9 to 9 Mt.
Salar de Uyuni
Average Li concentration map of Uyuni (g/L), average concentrations below 0.03% circled in red (adapted from Risacher and Fritz 1991).
The
Bolivian government has chosen the German firm ACI Systems GmbH as a
partner for industrialization of the lithium of Salar de Uyuni. ACI
Systems is expected to invest US$1.3 billion for a cathode and
battery plants while Bolivia would contribute with US$0.9 billion for
production of lithium and magnesium hydroxide. The project would
start in 2018 and construction of the four plants will take between
18 months and 3 years. A gross profit of US$1Billion a year and the
generation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs are estimated for
the entire project.
