IHUB has a habit of getting heavy handed at times...not sure it works to anyone's benefit. It sometimes feels like a nanny board. Anyway...this is an interesting piece from a metals analyst talking about the lithium operations in the Andes. Specifically mentioned is Orocobre's operation along with all the big boys...the map may not readable but it shows the Salar or the Brine areas being mined. I will try to enlarge the map in the next post.
Fox-Davies Capital
Brines
Lithium brine bodies in salt lakes, or salars, are formed
in basins where water which has leached the lithium from
the surrounding rock is trapped and co
ncentrated by evaporation. The proce
ss of extracting the lithium from
brines involves pumping the brines into a series of evapor
ation ponds to crystallize other salts, leaving lithium-rich
liquor. This liquor is further processed to remove impurities
before conversion to either lithium carbonate or lithium
chloride for further upgrading to lithium hydroxide. The ma
jority of the products from the brine operations are
destined for the chemical applicat
ion markets, with the remainder consumed in technical applications.
Nearly one-half of the world’s lithium production come
s from lithium brines in an Andes mountains’ region
encompassing parts of Argentina, Chile and Bolivia (no curre
nt production). This area is often referred to as the
“Lithium Triangle” and the primary brines are illustrated
below. In the mid-1990s, the development of these large-
scale, low-cost brine resources in Chile and Argentina
by SQM, Rockwood and FMC fundamentally changed global
lithium supply. With its cost advantage over mineral-ba
sed production, brine producers lowered prices to gain
market share, resulting in closure of mineral co
nversion plants in the USA, Russia and China.
