Extraction and purification of lithium concentrate from Alberta oilfield brines

近年来，锂离子电池（LIB）行业的快速增长创造了对传统矿床（如盐碱地）以外的新锂（Li）来源的需求。其中一个来源是来自加拿大西部沉积盆地的油气井的盐水，该盆地位于阿尔伯塔省、萨斯喀彻温省、不列颠哥伦比亚省、马尼托巴省和西北地区的部分地区。从2017年开始，在NSERC参与和合作研究与发展（CRD）资助下，E3金属公司和阿尔伯塔大学的阿莱西实验室开始合作研究提取、浓缩和净化50-100百万分之一（ppm）锂的技术，这些锂常见于阿尔伯塔省勒杜克组的盐水中。在过去的两年里，我们开发了一种离子交换吸附剂技术，可以在锂含量约为60 ppm、盐度超过15万ppm的盐水中将锂浓缩到5000 ppm以上，同时去除bbb99 %的杂质。这项技术已经提交了专利申请，目前正在与两个商业实验室合作扩大规模。在目前的NSERC CRD申请中，我们的目标是将目前成功的研究项目扩展到：(1)与商业实验室合作扩大我们的离子交换技术，(2)探索和优化锂精矿的抛光，以便它可以用于生产锂离子电池中使用的氢氧化锂或碳酸锂。这些目标是确保E3能够向加拿大第一家锂提取厂迈进的关键部分，并为加拿大西部的新产业提供支持。

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.