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Lithium 1

Lithium is an alkali metal essential for various industries, particularly in the production of batteries, ceramics, and polymers. Exploration for lithium-rich minerals involves geological mapping, surveying, and drilling to assess the commercial viability of extraction. Major lithium-bearing minerals include spodumene and lepidolite, primarily found in pegmatite rock formations across Nigeria.

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2 views

Lithium 1

Lithium is an alkali metal essential for various industries, particularly in the production of batteries, ceramics, and polymers. Exploration for lithium-rich minerals involves geological mapping, surveying, and drilling to assess the commercial viability of extraction. Major lithium-bearing minerals include spodumene and lepidolite, primarily found in pegmatite rock formations across Nigeria.

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info.giantholdings
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What is lithium and why is it important?

Lithium is an alkali metal with excellent conductivity, which is usually found in ore of rock

bodies. The ore of lithium includes spodumene, lepidolite, petalite, Amblygonite, etc. These

ores are primarily found in rock bodies.

Lithium minerals is in very high demand by manufacturing industries such as ceramics, glasses,

greases, batteries, metallurgical powders, polymers, and other industrial uses

Exploration and Exploitation of ore of lithium

Exploration (prospecting) is the search for lithium rich minerals, ore using different geophysical,

geological, mineralogical and chemical methods. It begins with knowing the literature review of

the area in question or asking the locals of the community if a rock body exist within the

surrounding. Initial exploration activities, such as mapping, will start over a large area and then

target smaller and smaller areas. The aim is to see if mineralization is at levels large enough to

be commercially extracted.

Exploration for minerals may involve: mapping, surveying the ground from the surface or air,

testing water and soil samples, drilling etc.

Mapping

This is the most important of all exploration for minerals. Geological mapping is the process of a

geologist physically going out into the field and recording geological information from the rocks

that outcrop at the surface. Information the geologist looks for will include: rock types,
mineralogical composition, trend, borehole logs, boundaries between different rock types and

structures e.g. fault-lines and evidence of the rocks undergoing deformation.

In light of the topic, lithium ore usually occur in granitic pegmatites and aplites, which occurs

extensively as intrusion in a body of rock. Pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very

coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than 1 cm (0.4 in) and

sometimes greater than 1 meter (3 ft). Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar,

and mica, having a similar silicic composition to granite. In Nigeria, lithium minerals

(spodumene and lepidolite) are known to be associated with cassiterite, columbite-tantalite

(coltan) and others in the extensive belt of rare metal-bearing rock types called pegmatite.

These rock pegmatites stretch from the Wamba area, Nasarawa State, north central; through

Egbe-Isanlu, Kogi State; north central, Ondo-Ekiti States, south west; to the Ife-Ilesa, Osun

State; south west.

Another belt in the western half of Nigeria, stretching from Zamfara and Kaduna States, north

west; through Niger and Kwara States, north central; and Oyo State, south west; is known to

host the rare metal-bearing pegmatites.

Some have also been found in Obudu, Cross River State, southern Nigeria.

Spodumene

Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate, LiAl(SiO3)2, and is

a source of lithium. It occurs as colorless to yellowish, purplish, or lilac kunzite. Spodumene is

an important source of lithium.


Physical properties of spodumen

1) Spodumene is often found as large crystals in rock usually greater in size than 1 cm

(0.4 in

2) It color ranges from pink, lilac, violet, yellow and green, may be bicolored.

3) It has a perfect cleavage

4) It has vitreous luster.

A green variety of spodumene, known as Hiddenite.


A variety of spodumene, known as Kunzite
A rock rich in spodumene
Lepidolite

Lepidolite is a mica group of minerals and the most abundant lithium bearing minerals. It colour vary
from pink, light purple, purple to rose red.

Physical properties of Lepidolite

1) It usually occur as scaly aggregates and massive crystals


2) It colour vary, pink light purple, light purple to rose red.
3) It has a perfect cleavage
4) It has a vitreous to pearly luster.

A lepidolite rich rock


A rock rich in lepedolite
Exploitation of lithium bearing minerals

Exploitation in mining sense can be said to be the actual ore and mineral recovery from the

earth taken into account the feasibility studies, ore quantity and quality using the following

mining principles with special mining technologies. One of the methods of mining of lithium

bearing mineral is the open-pit mining

Open-pit/surface mining

Open-pit mining is practical when the ore-bodies of the rock are large and located closer to the

surface.

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