The Safi bromine operations are operated by Jordan Bromine Company Limited (JBC), which is held jointly by Arab Potash Company PLC and Albemarle Holdings Company Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Albemarle Corporation (USA), with each party owning 50%.
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Summary:
The Dead Sea is not only the lowest surface on earth but is also the saltiest natural lake on earth with an average salinity of 342 grams per kilogram (g/kg) as of 2011, which is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean. The climate, geology, and location provide a setting that makes the Dead Sea a valuable large-scale natural resource for potash and bromine. When the Dead Sea was first formed, the volume was likely 4 to 5 times larger than the current volume. Today, the Dead Sea waterbody has an estimated surface area of 569 square kilometers (km2) and a brine volume of 106 cubic kilometers (km3).
Warren [2008] explains that the northern basin is the only permanent body of. The southern basin is a saline pan and saline mudflat that would have been subaerially exposed, but the water level is maintained by artificial flooding with north basin brine and controlled evaporation for industrial salt extraction on the Israeli and Jordanian sides of the Dead Sea. Warren [2008] draws the various depositional settings and general geology surrounding the Dead Sea, including the saline mudflats and pans at the southern end of the sea.
Evaporation greatly exceeds the inflow of water to the Dead Sea, especially since the mid-twentieth century, because of increased diversion and damming of the Jordan River for agricultural and domestic use. The Dead Sea has been receding approximately 1.1 to 1.25 m per year. Warren [2006] described that in 400 years (from 20086), the Dead Sea will drop 80 m below its current sea level and the remaining brine will have approximately 380 grams per liter (g/L) of dissolved solids and a density of 1.27 kilograms per liter (kg/L). Simply, these rates suggest that the surface of the Dead Sea will drop approximately 1 m and, depending on the slope, the shoreline could travel 5 to 6.25m seaward over a span of 5 years. While action on falling sea level may be considered a risk to the rights of access to the resources and ultimately reserves, this is not considered likely to be a problem prior to expiry of the lease agreement in 2058.
Supersaturated with halite, the Dead Sea has an annual negative water balance (i.e., the sea level drops), which is a result of the diversion of fresh water that would normally drain into the Dead Sea. The water deficit by volume is greater than appears as the water level falls because of the coinciding salt precipitation on the sea floor. The water balance is complicated and not well understood because of the variations in freshwater influx, variable evaporation rates, and uncertain subsurface inflow. The evaporation rate of a brine surface decreases with the increase in the amount of dissolved salts and is not comparable to the same evaporation rate of a body of fresh water under the same conditions.
The Dead Sea is the world’s saltiest natural lake with a definite chemical stratification. The Dead Sea brine solution contains high concentrations of ions compared to that of regular sea water and has an unusually high amount of magnesium and bromine and low amounts of carbonate and sulfate.
The relative ionic composition of the brine changes through the years because of continual evaporation, ongoing massive salt deposition, and the reinjection of the dense end brines in the south. End-brine reinjection has a local effect on halite saturation and ion/cation chemistry near the southern end of the north basin. The change in brine chemistry generally changes the solubility of evaporitic salt and brine physical properties (i.e., saturation, heat capacity, and viscosity).
Wisniak [2002] reports that an estimated 900 MMt of bromine exists in the Dead Sea. The reason for the high levels of bromine found in the water is not well understood, but the salt brines are believed to have formed during the Tertiary period. The evaporation ponds demonstrate the bromide-enrichment process that is theorized to have occurred many years ago and on a much larger scale. Residual brines are extremely rich in bromide. The feedbrine has a specific gravity of 1.2472 and contains 5,037 parts per million (ppm) of bromide. After controlled evaporation occurs in the southern basin ponds following the precipitation of halite and carnallite, the residual brine has a specific gravity of 1.341 and 8,742 ppm of bromide.