Overview
| Stage | Permitting |
| Mine Type | In-Situ |
| Commodities |
|
| Mining Method |
|
| Processing |
- Solvent Extraction
- Electrolysis
- Mechanical evaporation
|
| Mine Life | 8 years (as of Jan 1, 2017) |
Finalize permits for the Pilot Plant – BLM and NDEP received August 2021 approving construction of the Pilot Plant.
Site preparation and Pilot Plant construction, planned for 2H / 2021. |
Source:
p. 2
Pure Energy Minerals Limited (“Pure Energy”) is a public company incorporated under the laws of British Columbia.
Its primary project is the Clayton Valley Lithium Brine Project (the “CV Project”), located in Clayton Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada. The Pure Energy entered into an Earn-In Agreement (the "Agreement") with Schlumberger Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of Schlumberger Limited ("SLB"), dated May 1, 2019 whereby the Pure Energy has granted SLB an option in favour of SLB to acquire all of the Pure Energy’s interests in the CV Project (the “Option”). Upon exercise of the Option, the Pure Energy will be entitled to receive a 3% net smelter return royalty (“NSR”) on minerals produced at the CV Project and an advance minimum royalty payment of US$400,000 annually, payable in monthly installments, commencing January 1, 2021 for a period of five years or until the CV Project achieves commercial production.
Contractors
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Summary:
Clayton Valley is located within the Basin and Range Province in southern Nevada. It is a closed basin that is fault-bounded on the north by the Weepah Hills, the east by Clayton Ridge, the south by the Palmetto Mountains and the west by the Silver Peak Range and Mineral Ridge.
The basin is bounded to the east by a steep normal fault system toward which basin strata thicken. The north and east parts of Clayton Valley are flanked with Miocene to Pliocene sediments containing multiple primary and reworked volcanic ash deposits within finegrained clay and silt units. These deposits are a part of the Esmeralda Formation. The Esmeralda Formation is a sedimentary sequence grading from coal bearing siltstones, sandstones and conglomerates at the base to fine-grained, tuffaceous lacustrine sediments at the top of the section.
The deposit type for the Project is a continental, mineral-enriched brine aquifer within a hydrographically closed basin (endorheic basin). The principal mineral resource is lithium and is a dissolved product in a predominately sodium chloride brine. The brine is hyper-saline groundwater that saturates the pore spaces and fracture-apertures of basin-fill deposits (brine aquifer) that have accumulated over time in the basin. Dissolved minerals in the brine, such as lithium, originate from multiple processes of mineral dissolution and precipitation, remobilization, geothermal circulation, and evaporation occurring in the basin aquifer.
Summary:
Wells installed at the Project would include extraction wells producing brine for the process facility and monitoring wells for collecting physical and chemical data to assess aquifer conditions during the life of mine. Several possible well designs, including varying well depths and production intervals (screened intervals of well casing) are expected to be planned for the extraction wells to allow for
operational flexibility. Boreholes for extraction wells would be drilled using reverse circulation or casing advance drilling methods in order to allow for hydraulically efficient wells. Borehole diameters would be sufficient to allow for installation of casing that will accommodate the submersible pumps. The cased portions of the boreholes are planned as 8-inch nominal diameter. The casing annulus would be grouted above the screened area of the well casing to prevent the potential leakage of dilute brine.
Construction and operation of extraction wells would be phased during initial years of mining. Throughout the life of mine, as existing extraction wells lose efficiency, replacement wells are planned and would be funded by sustaining capital.
Processing
- Solvent Extraction
- Electrolysis
- Mechanical evaporation
Source:
Summary:
The selection of lithium hydroxide monohydrate as the product is driven by the requirements of potential customers, such as Tesla, for use in the production of lithium ion batteries.
The Tenova circuit design is such that the input brines can be converted to lithium hydroxide monohydrate product without having to produce lithium carbonate as an intermediate step.
The proposed Tenova Process would use unit operations related to technologies already in use in industrial practice. The Tenova circuit design is such that lithium in the input brines can be converted to LiOH·H2O without having to produce lithium carbonate as an intermediate step. The application of these unit operations in this sequence and for the recovery of lithium are what would make the Clayton Valley Project the first of its kind.
The overall process would consist of the following seven steps:
1. Brine Reception
2. Pre-Treatment - LiP™ process
3. pH Elevation and Polishin ........
Projected Production:
| Commodity | Units | Avg. Annual |
|
LiOH-H2O
|
t
| 11,500 |
Operational Metrics:
| Metrics | |
|
Plant annual capacity
| 11,500 t of lioh-h2o * |
|
Plant annual capacity
| 10,000 t of li2co3 * |
* According to 2017 study.
Reserves at January 1, 2000:
| Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
|
Inferred
|
331,500,000 cu. m
|
Lithium
|
123 mg/L
|
40.9 kt
|
|
Inferred
|
331,500,000 cu. m
|
LiOH-H2O
|
|
247.3 kt
|
|
Inferred
|
331,500,000 cu. m
|
LCE
|
|
217.7 kt
|
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