The Future of Economic Geology - Metals and Society: An Introduction to Economic Geology - page 148

Table 6.4 Uses of lithium

- As a flux in aluminium smelting
- As a heat-transfer medium in nuclear reactors (because of its
very high specific heat)
- In many types of battery (because of its high electrochemical
potential)
- In pharmaceuticals, as mood stabilizer
- As a specialized lubricant
- In alloys with al and Mg to produce strong and light aircraft
parts
- In specialized ceramics and glasses (telescope lenses)
- As LiOH which absorbs CO 2 in submarines and spacecraft

Fig. 6.3 Bolivian workers
cutting the salt crust at the
surface of the Salar de Uyuni,
to take samples and prepare
for future mining of the
deposit. AFP/AIZAR
RALDE Le Monde
07/07/2010

occurs in pegmatites; the second is Li carbonate which occurs in evaporitic
sediments and in the waters of high-altitude lakes. Past production has been mainly
from spodumene, but this has been largely supplanted by the second source,
because, just as with Ni ores, the energy requirement to refine the hard silicate
mineral, usually in underground mines, is greater than for the alternative. at present
about 75% of the world's Li reserves are in South America, in the andean “alti-
plano”, the high flat plain that extends through three countries, Bolivia, Chile and
Argentina. Geological factors, such as the presence of siliceous volcanic rocks that
are the source of Li, and climatic conditions favour the concentration of Li in the
lakes of the altiplano. The high altitude, strong winds and arid climate promote
rapid evaporation of the run-off from infrequent storms into closed basins where Li
accumulates in lake waters and sediments. Lithium is separated from the brine by a
process that starts by allowing the evaporation of the brine in closed pens, very like
the extraction of sea salt (Fig. 6.3 ). The Li is then extracted from the concentrated
brine and separated from other salts by a series of chemical reactions. The process is
long and drawn out (1-2 years are required for the initial evaporation stage, but
relatively cheap.
The concentration in this part of the world of a metal that may become essential
for global industry raises numerous questions. More than half the total resource is
located in Bolivia, a country with a long, troubled history of mining and mineral
exploitation. From the sixteenth to early nineteenth century the Spanish colonialists
ruthlessly exploited the incredibly rich silver deposits of “Cerro Rico”, shipping
most of the wealth back to Spain but briefly making Potosi in the high Andes one of
the richest cities in the world. Following the Bolivian revolution and through to the
present, the mineral deposits of the country have been managed or mismanaged by a