Southern Hemisphere Mining has pegged 27 square kilometres of prospective ground in South America’s revered “lithium triangle” just a stone’s throw from SQM Lithium’s massive brine operation.
The company’s new Lago Lithium Exploration Project will consist of nine concessions and will target brines compatible with “direct lithium extraction” technology, avoiding the need for large solar evaporation ponds that are typically used in the concentration of lithium brines.
Back in April this year the Chilean government announced a broad restructuring of the lithium industry in Chile that will see the government partner with local leaseholders.
Private companies producing lithium in Chile must now adopt the direct extraction method in order to partner with the Chilean Government and operate in the country.
Direct extraction refers to a growing suite of technologies that directly extract lithium salt from brine through processing rather than the existing method that allows the sun to dry out the lithium brine after it has been distributed into massive ponds.
The brine is a salty solution sitting below the earth’s crust, generally below salt–lakes. The raw brine is about three times as salty as sea water. The salt–rich solution has a very high mineral concentration including lithium, along with a host of other minerals.
Geological modelling of the area around Southern Hemisphere’s new project, completed by SQM and based largely on core data, suggests the brine is contained within pore space, or cavities, in the evaporitic rock which extends from surface.
The brine is essentially lithium rich ground water and is returned to surface through drilling and production techniques similar to those used in the oil–and–gas industry.
Once at surface, the direct extraction process will pull the brine into a processing unit and through a series of chemical processes to separate the lithium from waste, then re–inject the waste underground, leaving a battery–grade lithium product ready for sale.
The technology removes the need for extensive evaporation ponds and allows lower lithium, high impurity brines to be converted into saleable product.
Whilst direct lithium extraction technology is relatively new, more companies are announcing successful trials.
In April this year, Lake Resources announced independent verification of is direct extraction pilot with above 99.8% purity for lithium carbonate that was converted from 40,000 litres of lithium chloride produced at its flagship Kachi Project in Argentina.
The Lake project is now on track to move from pilot phase to commercial production, making it the first lithium brine project in South America to produce lithium at commercial scale without the use of solar evaporation ponds.
Vulcan energy is also moving forward with direct lithium extraction as part of its zero carbon lithium brine play in Germany. The company recently tabled a plan to produce the first tonnes of lithium produced using a direct extraction method known as “sorptiontype”.
Curiously, Vulcan says its brine is a “geothermal brine” that is not only capable of producing lithium, but also geothermal energy.
Southern Hemisphere says its direct extraction process will provide faster lithium extraction, reduced environmental impact, scalability and a high purity lithium output.
Dubbed the “lithium triangle”, the area between Chile, Bolivia and Argentina, contains about 54 per cent of the world’s lithium reserves.
The US Geological Survey says Chile alone has 9.6 million tonnes of lithium reserves and accounted for 30 per cent of global lithium production last year.
The lithium triangle has long been considered one of the most lucrative pieces of the global lithium pie and Southern Hemisphere now has its flag firmly affixed to it.
And with neighbours like Albemarle and SQM, chances are there is plenty of lithium out there somewhere.
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