Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: Earth knowledge Bureau (ID:diqiuzhishiju), author: cold, proofreading: Chao Qian / Editor: chestnut

Recently, the incident of privately digging lithium ore in Yichun area of Jiangxi Province has aroused widespread public concern. The central government has also sent a number of working groups to Yichun for rectification.

Jiangxi is a major province of mineral resources, and the direct reason why lithium mines have been privately excavated is that this resource is becoming more and more profitable. as a key ingredient of new energy batteries, lithium is known as the "white oil" of the fourth industrial revolution and an indispensable industrial raw material. China, Japan, the United States, Europe and Australia have listed lithium as a strategic metal one or two.

Yifeng County, Fengxin County and Gao'an City in Hengping-Yichun City

The porcelain clay porcelain ore in the border area is associated with rich lithium resource ▼.

China is currently the world's largest producer of new energy vehicles. As production increases by leaps and bounds, the price of lithium carbonate has exploded, and lithium prices have risen strongly for 18 months as of January 2023.

The price of lithium has come down recently, but the price is still not low ▼

With the sharp rise in lithium prices, in December last year, some villagers in Yichun, Jiangxi Province, went to the mountains to privately dig for lithium ore, which is obviously a destructive plunder of resources, and the state naturally attaches great importance to it. Of course, the chaos of lithium mines in Jiangxi, on the one hand, is a folk behavior that has been banned repeatedly, on the other hand, it also reflects the insufficient use of lithium in our country.

A sack originally filled with feed.

And now it's full of stones.

(figure: eco.gov.cn) ▼

Today, let's talk about the problem of "lithium deficiency" in China from a geographical perspective.

China lacks lithium. China's lithium is not too small in terms of reserves. According to relevant statistics, the global lithium resources are 86 million tons. The so-called amount of lithium resources is the proved quantity. Together with the reserves estimated by geologists, it can be said to be the "best guess value". Among them, the proven reserves is 21 million tons.

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According to the China Mineral Resources report 2022, China's lithium-converted lithium oxide (Li2O) reserves are 4.04 million tons, ranking fourth, accounting for 8.9% of global reserves and 13% of global production.

But compared with our lithium consumption, this capacity is not enough. According to forecasts, by 2030, China's demand for lithium will be as high as 700000 tons, of which 4.5 million tons will be imported, with a degree of external dependence of 65.70%. If it cannot be laid out in advance, it is likely to be harvested like other minerals in the future.

China's consumption and import of lithium carbonate are rising year by year, ▼.

In some countries in South America, lithium mines are too rich to be used up. As a highly concentrated mineral, 58% of the world's lithium resources are concentrated in the South American "lithium triangle". Among them, Bolivia 21 million tons, Argentina 19.3 million tons, Chile 9.6 million tons, China such a large territory is only 5.1 million tons, the best quality is Chile's Atacama Salt Lake, a single resource as high as 6.3 million tons.

Compared with them, the biggest problem of lithium mines in China is not reserves, but the difficulty of development.

It is true that there are many salt lake lithium deposits, but it is really difficult for human beings to use lithium mainly in the clay of salt lakes, rocks and sedimentary basins, which determines the three main types of lithium deposits: salt lake brine type lithium deposit, pegmatite type lithium deposit and sedimentary lithium deposit, which are referred to as salt lake lithium deposit, hard rock lithium deposit and sedimentary lithium deposit.

Among them, the first two constitute 90% of the world's lithium resources. The salt lake brine has a lower cost and less pollution to produce lithium, so the status is particularly important.

Hengping-Global Distribution Map of Major Lithium deposits ▼

In the inland lake of arid area, or the salt crust left after the inland lake dries up, it tends to enrich a large amount of lithium, which is the salt lake brine type lithium deposit. The higher the concentration of lithium in the salt lake, the greater the mining value.

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The main sources of lithium in salt lakes are Cenozoic volcanoes and geothermal activities. Geothermal water leaches lithium from strata and minerals, transports it, brings it to the surface through volcanoes and geothermal processes, and converges in salt lakes. Geothermal also accelerates water evaporation, which is equivalent to accelerating the enrichment of lithium.

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Due to the unique formation conditions of these deposits, they are mainly distributed in three major salt lake concentration areas in the world: the Andean Plateau of South America, the Western Plateau of the United States and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China. These three places are all the products of plate collision, and all have active geological activities, including the Atacama Salt Lake in Bolivia, the Great Salt Lake in the United States and the Zabuye Salt Lake in China.

The three salt lake concentration areas are all on the plateau surrounded by mountains, ▼.

As the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau blocks the warm and humid air flow in the Indian Ocean, the interior of the plateau becomes dry and cold. A large number of salt lakes have been formed in the west and north of the central region, of which there are more than 80 lithium-rich salt lakes, whose lithium chloride (LiCl) content is more than 0.3g per liter and lithium ion concentration is more than 0.05g per liter, which all exceed the industrial grade of lithium ore.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau used to be a vast sea.

Later, the "roof of the world" was gradually formed because of the collision between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate.

(photo: Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences) ▼

In addition, because the northern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is drier than the south, the salt lake developed earlier in the north. The salt lake in the Qaidam Basin formed earlier than Xizang's salt lake, resulting in different things in the lake.

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In the process of continuous evaporation of water in the salt lake, various compound crystals will be precipitated in turn, and the crystallization order is generally from carbonate type, to sulfate type, and then to chloride type.

Due to the early development of salt lakes in Qaidam Basin, a large number of salt lakes have entered the stage of "chloride salt lakes". Although it is spectacular on satellite images, these "lithium ore treasure basins" are actually very difficult to develop.

Chaerhan Salt Lake to the north is a chloride-type potassium-magnesium salt deposit.

(Hengping-Chaerhan Salt Lake) ▼

The Zabuye Salt Lake to the south is unique to the world.

Natural crystalline Lithium Carbonate Salt Lake

This involves a key obstacle to the extraction of lithium from salt lakes-"separation of magnesium and lithium". The ion radii of magnesium and lithium are very close, their chemical properties are similar, and they often coexist in salt lake brine. Most salt lakes in China contain more magnesium ions. In order to extract lithium, it is necessary to "separation of magnesium and lithium". The higher the content of magnesium ion is, the more difficult the separation is and the higher the cost is.

Different salt lakes have different separation techniques, ▼.

Therefore, the ratio of magnesium to lithium in salt lake brine has become the key index of the value of salt lake lithium ore.

Among the three salt lakes mentioned above, the magnesium-lithium ratio of "chloride type" is the highest, "sulfate type" is the second, and "carbonate type" is the lowest.

This is very embarrassing, we do not lack the "sulfate type" and "chloride type" salt lake, in fact, the mining value is very low.

For example, the average magnesium-lithium ratio of salt lakes in Chaidamu is as high as 80, while that of salt lakes in South America is much lower, only about 5-20, and the cost is not comparable at all.

Although Chaerhan Salt Lake has been proved in China

Soluble potassium magnesium salt deposit with the most abundant resources

However, it is very difficult to extract lithium due to its ultra-high ratio of lithium to magnesium, ▼.

As a matter of fact, we also have "carbonate salt lakes" with a relatively low magnesium-lithium ratio, but they are basically in Xizang. In the high altitude area of about 4000 meters, there is a lack of energy, inconvenient transportation and fragile ecology, and the terrain directly drives up the cost.

Once the ecological environment in the alpine area is destroyed, it is difficult to restore it.

You need to be very careful in developing resources here.

In a word, although our salt lake lithium mine has considerable resources, it is difficult to develop and the cost is much higher than that of American countries.

Compared with the salt lake lithium mine, the hard rock lithium mine has a short investment cycle and a rapid increase in production. With the global lithium price soaring, the market position of the hard rock lithium mine counterattacks rapidly. In 2019, global lithium production is 430000 tons, hard rock lithium ore 260000 tons, accounting for 60%, has exceeded the traditional South American salt lake lithium mining giant, these capacity mainly from southern Africa, western Australia and south-central South America, such as the famous Zimbabwe Bikita mine, with an annual production capacity of an astonishing 80,000 tons.

▼ diagram of output variation of salt lake brine type and hard rock type lithium deposits

Although the cost of hard rock lithium ore in China is also higher than that in foreign countries, high profits can still be made under the skyrocketing prices. The private mining of Jiangxi lithium mine mentioned at the beginning of the video is hard rock lithium mine.

The most famous hard rock lithium deposit in China is the No. 3 pit of Cocotuohai. Lithium is just one of 86 important and rare minerals in Keketuohai, Xinjiang. In the 1950s, the Cocotuohai Mining Bureau repaid about 40% of the total foreign debt, so the strategic value is very important.

In addition to lithium, Keketuohai No. 3 pit also has rare metals such as beryllium, tantalum and niobium.

Among them, beryllium resource ranks first in the country.

Hard rock lithium ore is divided into "granite type lithium deposit" and "granite pegmatite type lithium deposit".

The former is widely distributed in Jiangxi, Hunan and Guangxi, but the lithium ore grade of this kind of deposit is relatively low and the development cost is high. Granite-type lithium deposits such as Yichun and Yifeng in Jiangxi are mainly used as ceramic materials and their resources are consumed very quickly. Now, due to the skyrocketing price of lithium, it has become the target of private theft.

Compared with the former, the lithium in granite pegmatite is of higher grade and is easy to be exploited. It is mainly located in Altai, Xinjiang and Songpan-Ganzi area in western Sichuan. Among them, the No. 3 pit of Cocotuohai in Xinjiang and the methyl card in western Sichuan are the most famous.

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This kind of ore is basically distributed in orogenic belts of all ages.

For example, the Kunlun-Tianshan-Qilian-Qinling-Dabie orogenic belt and the Hengduanshan vein orogenic belt cross the east and west of China. However, compared with foreign countries, there are too few mineral sites explored in our country, and the reserves are limited. Some mineral sites are very high above sea level, and traffic is also a problem.

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For example, the largest pegmatite lithium deposit in China, the methyl card deposit, is located at the junction of Kangding, Yajiang and Daofu, Sichuan, with an elevation of 4300 to 4500 meters (4300 to 4500 meters). It belongs to the alpine mountains of the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and is 25 kilometers away from the Tagong Station of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, making transportation very difficult.

I don't know how many mountains you have to climb to get the mine out of the mountains.

At present, it seems that the hard rock lithium deposit with the most metallogenic potential in China is the Altai-Tianshan-Kunlun Mountain metallogenic area in Xinjiang, and a new round of exploration is also being carried out. Outside Xinjiang, Songpan-Ganzi and Qinling area are also potential stocks in the future.

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Generally speaking, whether salt lake lithium ore or hard rock lithium ore, there is a lot of room for improvement, but the premise is that chemical purification technology should be improved and deposit exploration should be carried out.

Moreover, the largest lithium mines in China are stored on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, so it will take time not only to reduce the cost of plateau development, but also to balance the relationship between mining and environmental protection.

Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets

There is no need to rush. After all, the mine is there.

This problem is also applicable to other mineral deposits on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In the future, we will issue a special issue to explain the mining problems on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

In short, large-scale imports of lithium resources are inevitable in the short term, and domestic companies are indeed laying out overseas lithium mines in advance. For example, the aforementioned Bikita mine in Zimbabwe, China Mineral Resources has acquired a 100% stake, and Ganfeng Lithium has also acquired Canada's Millennial Mining Company and Mexico's Bacanora Mining Company. It can be said that the competition for lithium ore resources in the international market has become white-hot, fortunately, this time, our layout is not too late. Even if you get stuck in the neck in the future, it won't be too tight.

Reference:

Gao Chunliang, Yu Junqing, Min Xiuyun, etc. Distribution characteristics and controlling factors of global salt lake brine lithium deposits [J]. Salt Lake Research, 2020, 28 (04): 48-55.

[2] Zhao Yuanyi. Lithium resources of salt lakes in China and their development process [J]. Geology of the deposit, 2003 (01): 99-106.

Dong Tao, Tan Hongbing, Zhang Wenjie, etc. Geochemical distribution of lithium in salt lakes in Xizang area [J]. Journal of Hehai University (Natural Science Edition), 2015 Jol 43 (03): 230-235.

Wang Zhuo, Huang Ranxiao, Wu Datian, etc. Basic characteristics of salt lake brine lithium deposit and evaluation of its development and utilization potential [J / OL]. Geology of China: 1-24 [2023-03-14].

[5] Luo Wanwan, Zhao Yuhao, Ni Pei, etc. Analysis of main types, characteristics, temporal and spatial distribution and prospecting potential of lithium deposits [J / OL]. Sedimentation and Tethys Geology: 1-21 [2023-03-14].

Chen Yanjing, Xue Zhizhi, Wang Xiaolei, Zhao Zhongbao, Han Jinsheng, Zhou Kefa. Advances in geological research of pegmatite lithium deposits in the world [J]. Acta Geologica Sinica, 2021 and 95 (10): 2971-2995.

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