Lithium and Its Recovery from Low-Grade Nevada Clays

Details

• Personal Author:
  Crocker L ; Lien, R. H.
• Description:
  The Bureau of Mines investigated processes for recovering a marketable lithium product from the montmorillonite-type clays of the McDermitt Caldera. The clay deposit, located on the Nevada- Oregon border, is estimated to contain over 3 million short tons of lithium. Limestone-gypsum roasting and selective chlorination proved most successful for extracting lithium from the clays; 80-pct li recovery was achieved using either technique. With both processes, lithium silicate in the clay was converted to a water- soluble compound--either lithium sulfate or lithium chloride. The lithium was then recovered as a carbonate by water leaching the calcine, concentrating the leach solution by evaporation, and precipitating the lithium with soda ash. The operating costs for the limestone-gypsum roast process were estimated at $2.02/Lb Li2CO3; selective chlorination operating costs were estimated at $3.85/Lb Li2CO3. The current selling price of Li2CO3 is about $1.50/Lb. A detailed flowsheet, material balance, and process evaluation are presented for the limestone-gypsum roast process. In addition, lithium reserves and resources are discussed and the McDermitt clays are described. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Alkali Metals Chlorination Clays Gypsum Leaching Limestone Lithium Materials Recovery Mining Engineering Roasting
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• Publisher:
  U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Conference Publications
• Place as Subject:
  Nevada ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 8 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Utah
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  SLRC - Salt Lake City Research Center
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-37
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:10005992
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB88-232541
• Citation:
  Salt Lake City, UT: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, Bulletin 691, 1988 Jan; :1-37
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Lithium and its recovery from low-grade Nevada clays.
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:38896fc4dd2ca567ecb4bef88a16cff30b214a9c68422a868e45abc687e93d36d479e0d68f716b171be9c473a4161f36e7f29370f68acd5f2665ae479d4976e3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/219734/cdc_219734_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.30 MB ]