Specialists at Rosatom’s science division have developed a technology for processing lithium-bearing micaceous ores. The solution is aimed at feedstock from the Nurlikon deposit in Uzbekistan, where lithium oxide content is about 0.5%. The new scheme makes it possible to recover the metal into finished product at a rate of 94.44% and completely eliminates the generation of liquid and solid waste.
Classical beneficiation methods are not suitable for this raw material. The mineral and the host rock are too similar in properties, and the high carbonate content further complicates processing. That is why earlier schemes did not deliver the required result.
Giredmet’s solution is built on a zero-waste model. Phosphogypsum, an industrial waste from the Almalyk chemical plant, is used in one of the intermediate processes. This will make it possible to utilize about 225,000 tonnes of secondary raw material every year. The processing tailings, in turn, will become feedstock for the cement industry.
The design capacity is 750,000 tonnes of ore per year. This volume will yield more than 8,500 tonnes of high-purity lithium carbonate of the “chemically pure” grade.
Valery Golovko, head of the technical department at JSC Giredmet, noted that for low-grade micaceous ores a zero-waste model is not only an environmental requirement but an economic necessity. In this scheme, phosphogypsum becomes a reagent and waste becomes a useful product for another industry.
The institute has scheduled pilot-industrial trials for next year. Their goal is to refine the technology and prepare it for implementation on an industrial scale.
The development shows that even poor and complex ores can be profitable if a closed cycle is built. For Uzbekistan, this is a chance to bring the Nurlikon deposit into production and gain its own source of high-purity lithium; for Rosatom, a way to consolidate its competencies in processing strategic raw materials.
Source: TASS
