The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[OakesCS]

several years ago Tesla made an offer to buyout Simbol Materials for ~$325M. SM had a process for removing Li from geothermal bribes. The deal fell thru. I am acquainted w the guy who was the technical wizard behind SM. Smart guy. Was royally screwed and I suspect there was some shadyness in the controlling partners who ousted the technical founder.

Li is too small to fit nicely into structures of most rock forming minerals which is why it’s found in late crystallizing rocks such as pegmatites (~rocks that form from all the leftover crap from fractionally crystallizing magmas - N Carolina & Canada), evaporites in basins lacking external drainages and significant rainfall (Andes), and absorbed on clays exposed to magmatic hydrothermal systems (the aqueous phase exsolved from the crystallizing magma carries Li away with it which interacts with overlying groundwater & sediments - Nevada)

Li doesn’t behave like Na so that part of article is BS. Both are alkali metals but the relevant geologic & battery-related properties are vastly different. The important part wrt to separation is to 1st remove all the other crap into solids and collecting the Li salts at the end just like Mother Nature.