Lithium extraction from hard rock lithium ores (spodumene, lepidolite, zinnwaldite, petalite): Technology, resources, environment and cost

IF 4.6 3区地球科学 Q1 GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

China Geology Pub Date : 2023-01-01 DOI:10.31035/cg2022088

Tian-ming Gao , Na Fan , Wu Chen , Tao Dai

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引用次数: 3

Abstract

Lithium production in China mainly depends on hard rock lithium ores, which has a defect in resources, environment, and economy compared with extracting lithium from brine. This paper focuses on the research progress of extracting lithium from spodumene, lepidolite, petalite, and zinnwaldite by acid, alkali, salt roasting, and chlorination methods, and analyzes the resource intensity, environmental impact, and production cost of industrial lithium extraction from spodumene and lepidolite. It is found that the sulfuric acid method has a high lithium recovery rate, but with a complicated process and high energy consumption; alkali and chlorination methods can directly react with lithium ores, reducing energy consumption, but need to optimize reaction conditions and safety of equipment and operation; the salt roasting method has large material flux and high energy consumption, so require adjustment of sulfate ratio to increase the lithium yield and reduce production cost. Compared with extracting lithium from brine, extracting lithium from ores, calcination, roasting, purity, and other processes consume more resources and energy; and its environmental impact mainly comes from the pollutants discharged by fossil energy, 9.3–60.4 times that of lithium extracted from brine. The processing cost of lithium extraction from lepidolite by sulfate roasting method is higher than that from spodumene by sulfuric acid due to the consumption of high-value sulfate. However, the production costs of both are mainly affected by the price of lithium ores, which is less competitive than that of extracting lithium from brine. Thus, the process of extracting lithium from ores should develop appropriate technology, shorten the process flow, save resources and energy, and increase the recovery rate of related elements to reduce environmental impact and improve the added value of by-products and the economy of the process.

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硬岩锂矿(锂辉石、锂云母、锌walite、petalite)提锂:技术、资源、环境与成本

我国的锂生产主要依赖于硬岩锂矿，与从卤水中提取锂相比，在资源、环境和经济方面都存在缺陷。本文重点介绍了用酸、碱、盐焙烧和氯化法从锂辉石、锂云母、花瓣石和锌铝石中提取锂的研究进展，并分析了从锂辉石和锂云母中工业提取锂的资源强度、环境影响和生产成本。研究发现，硫酸法锂回收率高，但工艺复杂，能耗高；碱法和氯化法可以直接与锂矿反应，降低能耗，但需要优化反应条件和设备及操作的安全性；盐焙烧法物料流量大，能耗高，需要调整硫酸盐配比，以提高锂的产率，降低生产成本。与从盐水中提取锂相比，从矿石中提取锂、煅烧、焙烧、提纯等过程消耗更多的资源和能源；其环境影响主要来自化石能源排放的污染物，是从盐水中提取锂的9.3-60.4倍。硫酸焙烧法从锂云母中提取锂的工艺成本高于硫酸法从锂辉石中提取锂，因为消耗了高价值的硫酸盐。然而，两者的生产成本主要受锂矿价格的影响，锂矿的竞争力不如从盐水中提取锂。因此，从矿石中提取锂的工艺应开发适当的技术，缩短工艺流程，节约资源和能源，提高相关元素的回收率，以减少对环境的影响，提高副产品的附加值和工艺的经济性。©2023中国地质编辑部。

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来源期刊

China Geology GEOLOGY-

CiteScore

7.80

自引率

11.10%

发文量

275

审稿时长

16 weeks