Lithium ore resources are an important strategic resource, which has a wide range of application prospects in the fields of new energy and new materials. With the increasing global demand for clean energy and sustainable development, the development and utilization of lithium resources has gradually become the focus of attention of countries and enterprises.
There are three main types of lithium deposits: lithium brine deposits, pegmatite lithium deposits, and sedimentary lithium deposits.
1.Lithium brine deposits: This is the most common type, accounting for more than half of the world's lithium resources. They are typically found in continental lithium brine deposits, such as the Salar de Atacama in Chile, which are among the richest high-grade lithium deposits in the world. This type of deposit requires a longer processing time.
2.Pegmatite lithium deposits: Also known as hard rock lithium deposits, they are formed in granite and other types of igneous rocks. These deposits are usually rich in lithium, as well as other rare elements such as cesium, rubidium, and tantalum. Lithium in pegmatites is most commonly found in spodumene minerals, but may also be found in other minerals such as petalise, lepidolite, spodumene, and spodumene.
3.Sedimentary lithium deposits: This type of deposit accounts for about 8% of the world's known lithium resources. They are formed in sedimentary rocks, such as clay and salt flats. These deposits are typically found in regions with dry climates, such as the Andes Mountains in South America and the Great Basin of the western United States. Sedimentary deposits are typically mined using solution mining methods, in which lithium-bearing minerals are dissolved with water and then lithium is extracted from the solution.
As the world shifts to electric vehicles and renewable energy, the demand for lithium is increasing. As a result, lithium mining companies are exploring new ways to extract lithium from pegmatites and sedimentary deposits to meet growing demand.
Lithium is typically found in low concentrations in rocks and minerals, and existing conventional detection methods do not allow qualitative testing of ores in the field. With the current technology, the qualitative nature of lithium content in lithium ore can only be judged empirically, if you want to do accurate quantitative analysis of the ore, you need to send the ore sample to a professional laboratory for chemical analysis or use ICAP plasma atomic emission spectrometer to detect, but where the lithium mine is located, it is difficult to establish such a professional analytical laboratory, so the on-site detection of lithium ore has always been a problem.
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has brought a whole new approach to lithium exploration. It is based on pulsed laser, computer software and other technologies, with the characteristics of light and easy to carry, simple operation, non-contact, fast analysis speed, no sample preparation, small destructiveness, small point detection area, multi-element simultaneous detection, etc., which can provide more convenient, reliable and cost-effective analysis methods for the composition and grade of lithium ore, and is an ideal analytical tool in lithium mining, application and other links.