Alan Brent Hemingway, an exploration/consulting geologist writes: “the current global transportation situation is similar in scope to the early 1900s where a slow but major transition occurred from horse-drawn system to a hydrocarbon base. The world is now in a major energy revolution from hydrocarbons towards an eco-friendly, energy efficient, alternatives based upon the utilization of scarce metals notably lithium. Lithium is foremost among these scarce metals; a key component of lithium-ion batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles gives a light weight energy alternative together with a friendly environment footprint. Nearly 75% of the current lithium production is from salars or near surface brines contained in large salt flats; other sources are hard rock extraction accounting for minor amounts (USGS). Production is sufficient at current rates of demand but pricing increases due to an increasing demand for electric vehicles are indicating shortage of supply which will escalate in the near term as new battery manufacturing projects are in the final stages of being completed (Tesla Gigafactory Reno Nevada).
“Lithium brine reservoirs are accumulations of saline ground waters enriched in dissolved lithium that occur in a closed basin in arid regions. The brines typically contain 200 to 1,400 mg/litre and are either pumped to the surface or from free flowing aquifers then discharged into progressive evaporation ponds yielding a chain of ponds with greater concentrations of lithium. The best North American known deposit for this type of concentration of lithium brine is Clayton Valley, Nevada.
“The evaporation process at Clayton takes an average of 10 months in progressive ponds to yield an aliquant product of 1-2% Li, the concentrate is further processed chemically to yield a marketable product lithium carbonate. Lithium carbonate precipitates from solution whereas other lithium compounds remain highly soluble and are the last precipitate from brines. Hence to economically concentrate lithium compounds is by allowing the compound to remain in solution rather than outright precipitate it from solution. By remaining in solution, lithium compounds can be extracted in a concentrate liquid form (as above percentages, a residue) whereas all the other elements like potassium, sodium, and calcium compounds have long precipitated out of solution. Other elements tied to lithium can also be extracted from the concentrate as by-products such as boron, bromine, iodine and potassium.
“Magnesium can create processing problems as well as other toxic elements.” All similar lithium deposit types have in common a bedrock source and faults which create heated ground water circulation and concentration.
“Modern deposit types show ground water spilling onto the surface into pools; older deposit types as such as in oilfield brines are similarly formed by the same mechanisms but have since been subsequently buried with newer sediments and reworked due to tectonic forces causing an enrichment of the original formation waters. There are several other theories of oilfield brine formation but only one is presented in context with the targeted area of exploration noted further in this summary. Some ancient oilfield brines in Texas report lithium values of close to 700mg/litre as also in other areas of the USA, the Devonian strata appears to have the highest concentration of lithium in their subsequent brines throughout North America.”
The USGS article on lithium brines further states “unless located in an arid climate, recovery of Li in evaporation ponds is not economically feasible”. However the article neglects modern mechanical methods that rival the old recovery processes of pond evaporation, Hemingay explains; “new technology verses old. Lithium X, a junior exploration company in Clayton Valley has developed a modern concentrating method for lithium brines through a rapid evaporation technique requiring only one day verses 10months of pond evaporation; MGX minerals has also developed a method of reverse osmosis for concentrating lithium from oilfield brines and is doing trial runs of a pilot plant in Alberta. These new technologies are in their infancy and development stages, much like the gasoline engine back in the early 1900s that eventually was improved for economic efficiency over the horse and buggy. There are no oilfield brines being commercially exploited at present for lithium enrichment although this resource is largely untapped.
“The Alberta Geological Survey first identified Alberta’s lithium potential in the 1990s. The Survey completed a comprehensive review of 130,000 reported chemical analyses of lithium-bearing formation waters throughout the Province (Hitchon et al, 1995). The compilation encompassed Cambrian through to Triassic formation waters.
“The Li-rich oil-field waters at Fox Creek occur at depths of approximately 2,500–3,900 m below surface. Bachu et al. (1995) provided a historical (i.e., non-NI 43-101 compliant) lithium resource estimate for the Swan Hills, Leduc and Beaverhill Lake formation waters of 515 000 t, over an area of 4,000 km2. Other exploration companies have also produced 43-101 resource estimates for lithium in oilfield brines in the Fox Creek area namely Channel Resources and Canadian International Resources. All these databases and analysis are based upon old data; there have been no reports to update the current database of oilfield wells drilled since 1995 and in particular since the Eccles report of 2010 which only incorporated the data from Fox Creek area into the old 1995 study. There are now more 210,000 wells in the Alberta ERCB database, a further 80,000 wells have been drilled since 1995.
The Eccles report notes that the Peace River Arch (PRA) area also has elevated Li-rich waters with some values >75mg/litre and up to 96mg/ litre. The PRA data is from older wells and much shallower (<3,500m) than the wells drilled since 2010 (>4,000m some approaching 6,000m).”
An excerpt from the report on the PRA clarifies the potential: “An important consideration for the introduction of lithium into an exogenous setting, such as the Fox Creek area formation waters, involves volcanic and/or hydrothermal activity. However, both processes are difficult to detect due to the thickness of the Phanerozoic wedge and depth at which these formation waters occur. Nevertheless, any model involving basement-water interaction and silicate mobilization in the Fox Creek area of west-central Alberta, must consider thermal, potential field, and tectonic features in the basement and the overlying strata. Summarized below are some spatially coincidental features that may have implications for lithium enrichment in the Fox Creek area……
“The Peace River Arch is an area of prominent structural disturbance in west-central Alberta that formed in three phases, each phase being characterized by a main structural manifestation: Precambrian to Early Carboniferous arch formation (Devon included), Early Carboniferous to Jurassic embayment, and Jurassic and Cretaceous enhanced subsidence in the foreland basin (O’Connell et al., 1990; Figure 5). The western portion of the arch is characterized by large-scale, broad grabens and half-grabens orientated both parallel (west-southwest) and normal (north-northwest) to the arch axis.”
Hemingwat says “note the last sentence; large scale broad grabens are down-faulted basins with active tectonic forces similar to modern day salars or playas where lithium brines occur within the strata.”
“The Gordondale area has received a new impetus from the oil industry with a focus on drilling deeper since 2010. Majors like Encana, Birchcliff and Enerplus have focused theirs efforts in the area recognizing a new discovered field oriented northwest to southeast across several townships. A tabulation of the recent wells since 2010 have identified across at least 10 townships a distinct pattern identified as a possible graben structure. Four of the townships are currently held by Victory Ventures. The results from the data on the other five townships unveil a total of 110 gas and 61 new oil wells since 2010. Most of the identified target wells are free flowing and of which 81 wells are deeper than 4000m, possibly into the lower Devonian. These wells are the new target with little well data published by the Alberta Geological Survey.
“Analysis of the area for metallic occurrences show several of the older wells with varying lithium content according to depth, the deeper the test corresponds to a progression in the lithium values, one well into the Devonian reaches close to 90mg/litre whereas the shallower wells have low lithium values with 2.2mg/litre being the lowest at the top of strata. The Devonian well is about 3,300m deep and currently held by MGX minerals until 2029. On the proposed acquisition area, there are several older wells with lithium content in brines, these wells have low values and are much shallower than the newer wells.
“The analytical results from the Alberta Geological Survey Paper Lithium Rich Formation Waters of Alberta confirm that the Devonian aquitard brines (Ireton aquitard system) contain an enrichment of lithium in comparison to the Triassic to Cretaceous brines. Previously before 2010, the target area has only limited drilling into the upper Devonian-Mississippian; the majority of older wells are in the Triassic to Cretaceous horizons, the newer wells are much deeper and possibly into the Devonian.
“The steps for target sampling are to tabulate the recent deeper and free-flowing wells (completed); analyze the well groupings and select the appropriate wells for obtaining stratigraphic well log data and determine which wells are into the Devonian; from the previous filter, it is necessary to determine the amount of brine produced from those wells by accessing the Industry database sources (Geoscout cost N/A). Once the filters have been completed and narrowed to a few wells, the next step is to field sample the brines from those wells. The direct cost to test the brines from one well is about $2,500 based on a ten sample program which does not include administrative costs. The next phase is a resource estimate followed by a test of an appropriate concentration method.
“New technologies require testing and may not extract all or a portion of the elements of interest. In particular, a vacuum assist tank evaporation process could be developed to concentrate the brines further to the point of having only lithium compounds remaining in solution. There are other concentration methods that may work, such as gravity centrifuge, which is a common method of separating the hydrocarbons from brines. The centrifuge could be ‘tweaked’ as to ‘skim’ off the lighter components of the brine, such as lithium, but this only speculation at present. I envision a process plant that is fully automated, requiring only servicing and stockpiling of product to ship to market. If all goes well with the prior stages, then a full facility installation is the final phase; the time from start to finish depending upon the financing flow is 5 to 7 years and in time for the start of the new electric vehicle market.
“The acquisition area will cover 46,000ha, and is held by the operator for 2 years without any further payments to the Alberta Government. Victory Ventures is looking for a joint venture operator to share the cost of the preliminary exploration expenses to test the recent wells on their lands.
“The proposed project area is early staged, grass roots, speculative target where the potential for new discoveries of lithium resources are unlimited and would result in a ‘new discovery’. The only company doing this type of grass roots exploration at present in Alberta is Victory Ventures. All the rest of the TSX venture listed companies are going after the old data produced in the 1995-2010 era, it is old news being re-hashed. Further, the processing facility would be state of the art being energy efficient and fully automated with little or no manpower to operate the equipment.”
References:
Bachu, S., Yuan, L.P. and Brulotte, M. (1995): Resource estimates of industrial minerals in Alberta formation waters; Alberta Research Council, Alberta Geological Survey, Open File Report 1995, URL <http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/abstracts/OFR_1995_01.html> [April 2011].
Eccles, D.R. and Jean, G.M. (2010): Lithium groundwater and formation-water geochemical data; Energy Resources Conservation Board, ERCB/AGS, Digital Dataset 2010-0001 (tabular data, tab delimited format), URL http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/abstracts/DIG_2010_0001.html [April 2011].
Bradley, D. Munk, L. Jochens, H. Hynek, S. and Labay, K. A Preliminary Deposit Model for Lithium Brines, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2013-1006 U.S. Department of the Interior, http://usgs.gov/pubprod
Birchcliff Resources, ticker symbol BIR on the TSX, Google Reference from the website the Peace River Arch project area.
