BRiSkET - Brine Resources in Saskatchewan: Exploration Tools

BRiSkET - 萨斯喀彻温省的盐水资源：勘探工具

• 批准号: 579066-2022
• 负责人: Robbins, LeslieLJ
• 金额: $ 2.19万
• 依托单位: University of Regina
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Alliance Grants
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=755027
• 关键词: BRiSkET; Brine; Resources; Saskatchewan; Exploration

Lithium is an essential metal for clean energy technologies, especially batteries used in electronics, electric vehicles, and renewable energy storage. As such, demand for lithium is projected to grow exponentially over the next several years. However, traditional lithium mining operations are not expected to be able to fill this demand, and current mining practices are both challenging and environmentally damaging. In response to this, the search for novel and sustainable lithium sources has begun to focus on subsurface waters within the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and drawn the interest of several junior mining companies. While preliminary work has shown that lithium enrichments occur in subsurface brines in western Canada, lacking is a framework that would allow for the prediction of lithium enrichments, which presents an obstacle to future exploration projects. To address this lack of a predictive framework, this project, in partnership with EMP Metals Corp., will utilize geochemical tracers (stable isotopes, major ion chemistry, rare earth element patterns), in combination with publicly available well data to develop a method for identifying areas where subsurface brines may be enriched in lithium. This will be accomplished by integrating geochemical data, along with geological metadata and utilizing machine learning approaches. While focused on the portion of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin that lies within southern Saskatchewan, results promise to help guide exploration for lithium in subsurface brines throughout western Canada and in other large sedimentary basins.

锂是清洁能源技术的重要金属，特别是用于电子产品，电动汽车和可再生能源存储的电池。因此，预计未来几年对锂的需求将呈指数级增长。然而，传统的锂矿开采作业预计无法满足这一需求，目前的开采实践既具有挑战性，又对环境造成破坏。针对这一点，寻找新的和可持续的锂资源已开始集中在加拿大西部沉积盆地内的地下沃茨，并引起了几家初级采矿公司的兴趣。虽然初步工作表明，加拿大西部地下卤水中出现了锂富集现象，但缺乏一个框架来预测锂的富集情况，这对未来的勘探项目构成了障碍。为了解决缺乏预测框架的问题，该项目与EMP金属公司合作，将利用地球化学示踪剂（稳定同位素、主要离子化学、稀土元素模式），结合公开的油井数据，开发一种方法，用于确定地下卤水可能富含锂的地区。这将通过整合地球化学数据、沿着地质元数据和利用机器学习方法来实现。虽然重点放在加拿大西部沉积盆地的一部分，位于萨斯喀彻温省南部，结果有望帮助指导勘探地下卤水在整个加拿大西部和其他大型沉积盆地的锂。