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Lithium Ore Processing: A Complete Plant Flowsheet Guide

Understanding Lithium Ores

Natural Occurrence Forms of Lithium Ores

The chemically reactive lithium element does not exist in elemental form in nature but occurs as compounds distributed in various minerals, salt lake brines, and seawater. Currently, industrially exploitable lithium resources are primarily divided into two major categories: hard-rock lithium deposits and brine lithium deposits.

Hard-Rock Lithium Deposits

Refers to deposits where lithium is enriched within silicate minerals. Ore is typically extracted via conventional open-pit or underground mining methods and then processed through crushing, grinding, and concentration to produce lithium concentrate.

【厂辫辞诲耻尘别苍别】

Mineralogical Characteristics: Chemical formula or , with a theoretical Li2O (lithium oxide) content of 8.03%. It is one of the most important global industrial lithium mineral sources. Colors range from grey-white, green, yellow to purple, often associated with quartz, feldspar, and mica.

【尝别辫颈诲辞濒颈迟别】

Mineralogical Characteristics: Also known as lithia mica, it is a potassium lithium aluminosilicate mineral with a complex chemical structure, typically written as KLi2Al(Si4O10)(F,OH)2. It has a relatively low theoretical Li2O content, approximately 3.3% - 5.9%. It commonly occurs in granitic pegmatites, often purple or pink. Due to its complex composition and lower grade, concentration and refining are comparatively more challenging.

【笔别迟补濒颈迟别】

Mineralogical Characteristics: Chemical formula Li2AlSi4O10 , with a theoretical Li2O content of 4.50%. Crystals are mostly white or colorless, with a vitreous luster and moderate floatability. Commonly found in lithium-rich pegmatites. Its processability is inferior to spodumene, but specific deposits can hold economic value.

【Typical Regions】

• Australia Greenbushes – Global largest spodumene deposit.
• China Jiajika – Large pegmatite deposit dominated by spodumene.
• Canada James Bay – Emerging spodumene belt.
• Jiangxi Yichun – Global largest lepidolite resource base.
• Zimbabwe Bikita – Global largest petalite deposit.

【Applicable Process Flows】

Primary Crushing - Secondary & Tertiary Crushing - Stage Grinding - Flotation (commonly using cationic collectors) - Thickening & Filtration - Drying; some refractory ores require combined roasting pre-treatment to enhance lithium recovery.

Brine Lithium Deposit

Refers to liquid deposits where lithium ions are enriched in surface salt lake brines, subsurface pore brines, or oilfield-associated brines. These deposits typically form in closed basins under arid to semi-arid climatic conditions, and their development heavily relies on natural evaporation and chemical extraction processes.

【Surface Salt Lake Brine】

Chemical & Compositional Characteristics: Lithium ions are present in chloride-type, sulfate-type, or carbonate-type brines. The Magnesium-to-Lithium ratio (Mg/Li) is a critical parameter impacting extraction efficiency and cost; brines with lower Mg/Li ratios are more economically valuable.

Typical Regions: Chile Salar de Atacama – Globally highest-grade surface chloride brine; Argentina Salar del Hombre Muerto – Typical sulfate-type salt lake; China Qaidam Basin – Large sulfate-magnesium subtype salt lake brine resource.

【Subsurface Pore Brine】

Chemical & Compositional Characteristics: Found within deep aquifers, lithium concentration is usually high, but extraction requires drilling, resulting in higher development costs and technical barriers.

Typical Regions: USA Clayton Valley – Representative subsurface pore brine deposit.

【Subsurface Pore Brine 】

Chemical & Compositional Characteristics: Often associated with oil and gas fields, composition is complex, frequently containing valuable elements like iodine, bromine, and potassium alongside lithium. While offering significant potential for comprehensive utilization, the refining process is intricate.

Typical Regions: China Sichuan Basin – Important oilfield-associated brine lithium resource area.

【Applicable Process Flows】

Solar evaporation in pond systems - Fractional crystallization for impurity removal (precipitating sodium salts, potassium salts, etc.) - Obtaining lithium-enriched concentrated brine (bittern) - Lithium extraction via carbonation or alkali precipitation (e.g., adding sodium carbonate to precipitate lithium carbonate) - Brines with high Mg/Li ratios or low grades may require combined adsorption, membrane separation, or solvent extraction technologies for lithium concentration and purification.

Global Lithium Ore Distribution Overview

As of the end of 2024, global lithium ore production (lithium metal equivalent) was approximately 245,000 tonnes, with economically extractable reserves around 32 million tonnes. Production and reserves are highly concentrated: Australia, with 88,000 tonnes of production and 4.8 million tonnes of reserves, continues to lead hard-rock supply; Chile, with 49,000 tonnes of production and 9.3 million tonnes of reserves, holds first place in brine resources; China, with 41,000 tonnes of production and 5.28 million tonnes of reserves, ranks third. These three countries collectively account for over 76% of global production.

The South American "Lithium Triangle" (Chile, Argentina, Bolivia) holds total reserves of 15.9 million tonnes, representing half of the global total, predominantly brine resources. Meanwhile, hard-rock projects in Zimbabwe, Canada, and Brazil are ramping up production rapidly. While the USA and Bolivia possess vast reserves, they have yet to achieve large-scale production. The global lithium resource landscape is characterized by the dominance of "Australia-Chile-China" and the accelerated rise of North America, South America, and Africa.

Lithium Concentrator Construction Process

The construction of a lithium concentrator is a complex systems engineering project involving multiple disciplines, significant investment, and lengthy timelines. It must adhere to rigorous, scientific development procedures to ensure technical feasibility, economic rationality, and environmental and social sustainability. The core construction process is as follows:

1. Exploration

Objective:

Define ore body distribution, grade, and reserves to provide a basis for scientific decision-making.

Main Activities:

• Desktop Research: Analysis of existing geological data, maps, and literature to screen target areas with mineralization potential.
• Field Mapping & Sampling: Conducting detailed field geological surveys, identifying lithologies, and sampling mineralized outcrops. Geophysical/Geochemical Surveys: Employing techniques such as aeromagnetics and ground-penetrating radar to detect subsurface geophysical/geochemical anomalies indicative of mineralization.
• Drilling: Employing techniques such as aeromagnetics and ground-penetrating radar to detect subsurface geophysical/geochemical anomalies indicative of mineralization.
• Resource Estimation: Constructing 2D/3D geological models to estimate ore body tonnage, grade, and preliminary economic viability.

Deliverable: Mineral Resource / Ore Reserve Report

2. Planning & Design

Objective:

Scientifically design an efficient, economical, and safe production line.

Main Activities:

• Feasibility Studies: Conducting in-depth technical-economic assessments to evaluate the project's economic viability and technical solutions (Pre-Feasibility Study - PFS, Definitive Feasibility Study - DFS).
• Permitting & Financing: Securing necessary governmental approvals such as environmental permits, mining licenses, and arranging project financing.
• Mine Design: Planning mine infrastructure, access/transport systems, and determining the mining method (e.g., open-pit or underground).
• Site Preparation: Constructing access roads, site facilities, and clearing overburden/stripping.
• Deliverable: Feasibility Study Report, Permits & Licenses, Financing Plan, Mine Design Package, Completed Site Preparation.

3. Concentrator Construction

Objective:

Ensure high-standard construction and rapid commissioning.

Main Activities:

• Procurement: Global sourcing based on equipment lists. Key equipment includes crushers, ball/SAG mills, flotation cells, thickeners, filters, pumps, valves, and automation/DCS systems.
• Civil Works: Site leveling, road construction, plant foundation work, structural erection, initial tailings storage facility (TSF) embankment construction, etc.
• Equipment Installation & Erection: Installing and aligning procured crushing, grinding, separation, thickening, and filtration equipment according to the process flow sequence. Ensuring installation precision and operational performance meet design standards. Completing piping, electrical, and automation/DCS system installation and connection.
• Pre-commissioning (Single Equipment Testing): Starting each piece of equipment individually to check functionality.
• Commissioning (Integrated Wet Commissioning): Introducing ore and water for integrated operation, gradually ramping up to design capacity and performance indicators. Verifying achievement of designed throughput, recovery rate, and concentrate grade.

Deliverable: Commissioned Plant (Ramp-up to Nameplate Capacity).

4. Operation & Maintenance

Objective:

Operate safely, stably, efficiently, and cost-effectively.

Main Activities:

• Drilling & Blasting: Drilling blast holes in rock and using explosives to fragment the orebody into sizes suitable for loading.
• Loading & Hauling: Using large excavators/shovels for loading and haul trucks to transport broken ore to the concentrator ROM pad.
• Production Operations: Processing run-of-mine (ROM) ore through the designed beneficiation flowsheet (crushing, grinding, separation - typically flotation for hard-rock, thickening, filtration) to produce concentrate meeting quality specifications. Strictly controlling process parameters (e.g., grind size P80, reagent dosage, flotation time, thickener underflow density) to ensure stable and optimized metallurgical performance.
• Equipment Maintenance: Performing regular inspections, preventive maintenance (PM), and repairs. Timely replacement of wear parts to ensure reliable equipment operation, minimize downtime, and maximize plant availability.
• Quality Control (QC): Establishing a comprehensive quality monitoring system. Performing real-time sampling and assay of ROM feed, intermediate products, and final concentrate. Adjusting process parameters based on assay results to ensure concentrate grade and recovery meet contract specifications and market demands.
• Safety Management: Developing and strictly enforcing safety regulations and procedures. Conducting employee safety training. Providing necessary safety equipment and emergency response resources to ensure personnel and equipment safety during plant operations.

Deliverable:

Achievement of target production metrics (Throughput, Grade, Recovery, Availability, Cost).

5. Sales & Logistics

Objective:

Achieve rapid, secure, and low-cost value realization.

Main Activities:

• Quality Assaying: Joint sampling, sample preparation, and assay by buyer and seller to determine final concentrate grade for settlement.
• Sales Contracts: Typically signing long-term off-take agreements with concentrate buyers. Pricing is usually negotiated based on prevailing international market prices (e.g., linked to spot indices or benchmarks).
• Concentrate Transport: Concentrate is transported via truck or conveyor to concentrate storage sheds/bins. It is then shipped via road, rail, or sea to the customer's designated location. Necessary protective measures are taken during transport to prevent concentrate degradation.

6. Tailings Management & ESG

Objective:

Achieve the integration of safety, environmental protection, and social responsibility.

Main Activities:

• Tailings Disposal: Transporting tailings (waste stream from the concentrator) via pipeline or other methods to the Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) for deposition.
• Tailings Facility Management: Continuous monitoring of TSF embankment stability, seepage, and pond water quality. Implementing necessary environmental controls (e.g., liners, seepage collection, water treatment plants) to prevent contamination.
• Tailings Valorization/Utilization: Reprocessing tailings to recover remaining valuable elements or utilizing them for construction materials, mine backfill, etc., to reduce storage volumes, minimize environmental impact, and maximize resource efficiency.
• Rehabilitation/Closure: Upon reaching the TSF's design capacity, implementing closure and rehabilitation plans, including landform design and revegetation, to restore the site.

Deliverable: Safe, stable, and environmentally sound TSF operation and closure; Positive ESG performance.

Common Beneficiation Processes for Lithium Ores

The selection of lithium ore beneficiation flowsheets is highly dependent on the ore's mineralogical characteristics (e.g., mineral types, associations, liberation size). Currently applied industrial lithium ore beneficiation methods can be summarized into the following mainstream process routes, chosen based on ore type and economic viability.

1. Spodumene Flotation Process

Applicability:

Primarily used for concentrating spodumene from granitic pegmatites. It is the dominant global process for hard-rock lithium ores.

Basic Principle:

Based on differences in the surface physicochemical properties of spodumene compared to associated gangue minerals (like feldspar and quartz). Separation is achieved by adjusting pulp pH and adding specific reagents to render spodumene hydrophobic for flotation.

Typical Flowsheet:

ROM ore is crushed in a "Three-Stage Closed-Circuit" crushing plant to below 15mm. It is then ground in a closed-circuit ball mill/hydrocyclone circuit to a P80 of 60%-80% passing 74 microns (200 mesh) to achieve sufficient mineral liberation. Hydrocyclone desliming (removing particles finer than ~19 microns) is a key pre-treatment step. Flotation occurs in an alkaline environment (pH 8-9) using a reagent scheme of "NaOH for pH adjustment + starch as gangue depressant + oxidized paraffin soap as collector." The circuit typically employs a "Rougher-Scavenger-Cleaner" configuration with at least one rougher, two scavenger, and three cleaner stages. Concentrate undergoes thickening, filtration, and drying to produce the final product.

Advantages/Disadvantages:

Proven technology, high recovery rates, capable of producing high-grade concentrate (>5.5% Li2O); Requires tailings disposal and chemical usage, sensitive to slimes.

2. Lepidolite Flotation Process

Applicability: Treating lepidolite-dominant ores, particularly suited for pegmatites in regions like Jiangxi Yichun.

Basic Principle: Utilizes cationic collectors (amine types) which selectively adsorb onto the lepidolite surface in an acidic medium, rendering it hydrophobic for flotation separation from quartz and feldspar.

Typical Flowsheet: After crushing and grinding, an "acid scrubbing" step is often added to enhance slime removal and mineral surface cleaning. Flotation occurs under acidic conditions (pH 3-4), using sulfuric acid as a modifier, sodium silicate (water glass) as a depressant, and dodecylamine or similar amines as collectors. Multi-stage circuits (e.g., one rougher, multiple scavengers, multiple cleaners) are common. Concentrate Li2O grade is typically 3.0%-4.5% and often rich in rubidium (Rb) and cesium (Cs).

Advantages/Disadvantages: Allows recovery of co-/associated rare elements; Concentrate grade is relatively low, reagent costs are high, requires high operational expertise.

3. Petalite Gravity-Flotation Combined Process

Applicability: Treating petalite ores with poor natural floatability or co-associated with heavy minerals (e.g., tantalite-columbite).

Basic Principle: Utilizes density differences for pre-concentration and waste rejection via gravity separation, followed by magnetic separation to remove iron-bearing minerals, and finally flotation for purification.

Typical Flowsheet: ROM ore is ground to a medium fineness. Gravity separation using jigs or shaking tables rejects large volumes of low-density gangue and provides a preliminary concentrate enriched in petalite and heavy minerals. The gravity concentrate undergoes high-intensity magnetic separation (HIMS) to remove iron impurities. The non-magnetic fraction is reground and floated (often using cationic or combined cationic/anionic collectors) to further remove silicate gangue.

Advantages/Disadvantages: Enables comprehensive recovery of multiple valuable minerals; Flowsheet is long and costly, operation and control are complex.

4. Salt Lake Brine Lithium Extraction Process

Applicability: Extracting lithium from salt lake or subsurface brines with high lithium ion content. A major pathway for current lithium resource development.

Basic Principle: Utilizes solar evaporation ponds for lithium ion concentration, followed by chemical precipitation, adsorption, membrane separation, or solvent extraction to separate lithium from other ions (e.g., Mg, Na), ultimately producing lithium salt products.

Typical Flowsheet: Brine undergoes multi-stage evaporation in solar ponds, precipitating sodium and potassium salts sequentially, yielding concentrated lithium-rich brine (bittern). The bittern is purified to remove impurities (e.g., Mg, Ca, B). Sodium carbonate is then added to precipitate crude lithium carbonate. Further purification steps (dissolution, impurity removal, recrystallization) yield battery-grade product. Brines with high Mg/Li ratios often require pre-concentration steps like adsorption or membrane technologies.

Advantages/Disadvantages: Lower operating costs, high product purity, large resource scale; Long development timelines, severely constrained by climate and geography, high environmental compliance requirements.

Value Realization Post-Beneficiation

The value realization of lithium ore beneficiation aims to transform ROM ore into higher-value lithium products suitable for direct use in downstream industries through physical or chemical concentration. Core pathways include concentrate sales, lithium salt conversion, and tolling arrangements, ultimately driven by the lithium demand from the new energy battery sector.

Selling Lithium Concentrate

The concentrator processes ROM ore through crushing, grinding, flotation, etc., and directly sells the lithium concentrate product (e.g., 5%-6% Li2O spodumene concentrate). Pricing is typically linked to international lithium chemical prices, net of subsequent conversion costs. This approach offers rapid capital turnover, avoids investment and operational risks associated with the lithium conversion stage, and is suitable for companies with good resources but limited capital or those focused solely on concentration.

Integrated Production and Sale of Lithium Salts

Through an integrated concentration-conversion flow, self-produced or purchased concentrate is further processed into battery-grade lithium salts like lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide. Products are sold directly based on spot market or long-term contract pricing, offering stronger pricing power and larger profit margins. Although this model requires significant upfront investment and higher technical capability, it enhances resilience against concentrate price fluctuations and improves overall profitability and risk management across the value chain.

Tolling Model

The concentrating company sends its self-produced concentrate to a third-party converter (toll processor). The processor converts the concentrate into lithium salts for a fee (tolling charge), and the salts are returned to the concentrator company for sale. This approach allows the company to retain product ownership, offering flexibility in sales timing and partners, while avoiding heavy investment in conversion assets and capturing the lithium salt market premium. It is suitable for companies with concentrate production capacity but without integrated conversion facilities. To enhance overall value, companies can also comprehensively recover valuable associated elements like rubidium (Rb), cesium (Cs), and tantalum (Ta) present in lithium ores, broadening revenue streams. Furthermore, optimizing concentrate recovery rates, reducing reagent and energy consumption costs, implementing advanced process control (APC), and ensuring compliance management can enhance profitability while ensuring stable production. Value is ultimately realized through the rigid demand for lithium materials in the new energy battery sector.

Project Cases

Case 1: Pilgangoora Project (Pilbara Minerals), Australia

• Ore Type: Spodumene-bearing Pegmatite
• Resource/Reserve: JORC Resource 308 Mt @ 1.15% Li2O; Reserve 190 Mt @ 1.26% Li2O
• Throughput: 5.8 Mt/a ROM (Two parallel circuits, 2.9 Mt/a each)
• Process: Three-Stage Closed-Circuit Crushing + HPGR Tertiary Crushing + Ball Mill Grinding & Classification + Flotation ("1 Rougher - 3 Cleaners - 2 Scavengers") Location: 120 km SE of Port Hedland, Western Australia

Case 2: 600 kt/a Lepidolite Concentrator (Yongxing Materials), Yichun, China

• Ore Type: Altered Granite-hosted Lepidolite
• Throughput: 600 kt ROM/a
• Process: Two-Stage Closed-Circuit Crushing → Tower Mill (Vertical Stirred Mill) → Acidic Flotation (Amine Collector) → Magnetic Iron Removal
• Location: Yuanzhou District, Yichun, Jiangxi, China

Case 3: Cauchari-Olaroz Project (Allkem + LAC), Argentina

• Ore Type: Salt Lake Brine
• Brine Li: 690 mg/L; Mg/Li = 2.6
• Throughput: Evaporation pond area , brine extraction 1,200 L/s
• Process: Solar Evaporation → Fractional Crystallization → Bittern Purification → Lithium Carbonate Precipitation
• Location: Jujuy Province, Argentina