Extraction and purification of lithium concentrate from Alberta oilfield brines

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Recent rapid growth in the lithium ion battery (LIB) industry has created a demand for new lithium (Li) sources outside of traditional deposits such as salars. One such source is brines derived from oil and gas wells in the Western Sedimentary Basin of Canada, which underlies portions of Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Manitoba and the Northwest territories. Beginning in 2017 and funded by NSERC Engage and Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) grants, E3 Metals Corporation and the Alessi Laboratory at the University of Alberta began collaborating on technologies to extract, concentrate and purify the 50-100 parts per million (ppm) Li commonly found in brines derived from the Leduc Formation, Alberta. During the past two years, we developed an ion exchange sorbent technology that can concentrate Li to over 5,000 ppm in a brine with approximately 60 ppm Li and a salinity exceeding 150,000 ppm, while simultaneously removing >99% of the impurities. This technology, for which a patent application has been submitted, is being scaled up in collaboration with two commercial laboratories. In this current NSERC CRD application, we aim to extend the current successful research program to (1) work with the commercial laboratories on scaling up our ion exchange technology, and (2) to explore and optimize the polishing of the lithium concentrate, so that it can be used to produce lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate for use in LIBs. These goals are critical pieces in ensuring that E3 can move towards the first lithium extraction plant in Canada, and to support a new industry for western Canada.