Brine grades in Andean salars: When basin size matters A review of the Lithium Triangle (original) (raw)

Section snippets

Introduction and historical background

The demand for lithium (Li) has recently known a great increase worldwide due to its application in the fabrication of rechargeable batteries (for mobile phones, personal computers, electric vehicles, etc.). Known global lithium resources involve about 31 Mt., which would represent ~1.50 times the global estimated demand up to the year 2100 (Kesler et al., 2012). Nowadays, lithium is mostly obtained from pegmatite- and brine-type deposits. The former consist of conventional Li mining and

Geology of the Andean plateau

The Andes display along the western South America (Fig. 1). The Orogenic processes that conducted to the Andes mountain building started in the early Cenozoic after major reorganization of tectonic plates in the eastern Pacific, driving the convergence of the Nazca and South American plates (Tassara, 2005, and references therein).

The Andean plateau (Fig. 1 B) is a tectonic elevation area settled in the Central Andean zone. It occupies parts of northern Chile and Argentina, western Bolivia and

Material and methods

The dataset in this article comprises two types of information: 1) major hydrochemistry including Li concentrations in brines from Andean salt pans, and 2) the areal surface (size) of these salt pans and of their basin catchments. The hydrochemical and Li data were obtained by compiling available information for 49 Andean salt pans published in the scientific literature. All the areal surfaces of salt pan and respective basin catchments were obtained from satellite imagery. These values consist

Altiplano salars

A few salt pans occur in the southern Bolivian Altiplano. Amongst these salars, the most prominent are Uyuni and Coipasa (#2): with an area of 10,000 km2, Uyuni is by far the largest salt pan on Earth, and with its 1650 km2 Coipasa is the fourth largest salar in the Andean plateau (Fig. 1, Table 1). Empexa (#4 in Fig. 1) and Pastos Grandes (#11) also are large salars with their 402 and 124 km2, respectively. These salt pans are located at altitudes >3.60 km asl, and their catchments involve

Lack of Li geographical distribution

Andean Li-brine type deposits are found both in mature and in immature salars (Houston et al., 2011; Fig. 7 a and b). Andean mature salars, such as Atacama, correspond to halite dominated pans, whereas immature salars, like Uyuni and Olaroz, are mostly filled by clastic saline muds (Houston et al., 2011). Sometimes, mature and immature zones can be found in the same salt pan. For example, western Hombre Muerto corresponds to a mature pan, whereas its eastern side is an immature salar. An

Conclusions

•
The area involving all of the Andean Li-bearing salt pans extends beyond the Lithium Triangle and corresponds in fact to a curved crescent shape. We propose it be referred to as the Lithium Crescent.
•
Andean brines are of the Cl− - SO42− type, and the compositional variability is marked by major cations: Na+ − Mg2+ signatures largely predominate, with the exceptions of the Mg2+ > Na+ signature of Uyuni, and the Na+ − K+ signature in the Northern Puna salars (Argentina). High Mg2+ concentrations

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgments

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. We wish to thank to C. Helvaci and five anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments that greatly improved this manuscript, as well as J.-A. Sanchez-Cabeza for editorial handling. The authors declare no conflict of competing financial nor non-financial interests in relation to the work herein.

References (132)

et al.

Pure and simple shear plateau uplift, Altiplano-Puna, Argentina and Bolivia

Tectonophysics.

(1996)

D. Banks et al.

Distribution, salinity and pH dependence of elements in surface waters of the catchment areas of the Salars of Coipasa and Uyuni, Bolivian Altiplano

J. Geochem. Explor.

(2004)

A. Becker et al.

Disaggregation, aggregation and spatial scaling in hydrological modelling

J. Hydrol.

(1999)

V. Carmona et al.

Solute inputs in the Salar de Atacama (N. Chile)

J. Geochem. Explor.

(2000)

G.E. Ericksen et al.

Chemical composition and distribution of lithium-rich brines in Salar de Uyuni and nearby salars in southwestern Bolivia

Energy.

(1978)

G.M. Gianni et al.

A geodynamic model linking cretaceous orogeny, arc migration, foreland basin subsidence and marine ingression in southern South America

Earth Sci. Rev.

(2018)

L.V. Godfrey et al.

The role of climate in the accumulation of lithium-rich brine in the Central Andes

Appl. Geochem.

(2013)

H.-J. Götze et al.

The Central Andean gravity high, a relic of an old subduction complex?

J. S. Am. Earth Sci.

(2002)

G. Herail et al.

Tectonophysics.

(1996)

S.E. Kesler et al.

Global lithium resources: relative importance of pegmatites, brine and other deposits

Ore Geol. Rev.

(2012)

R.L. López Steinmetz et al.

Water legislation in the context of lithium mining in Argentina

Res. Policy

(2019)

R.L. López Steinmetz et al.

Landscape and drainage evolution during the Cenozoic in the Salinas Grandes Basin, Andean Plateau of NW Argentina

Geomorphology.

(2020)

R.L. López Steinmetz et al.

Landscape and drainage evolution during the Cenozoic in the Salinas Grandes Basin, Andean Plateau of NW Argentina

Geomorphology.

(2020)

L.A. Munk et al.

Hydrogeochemical fluxes and processes contributing to the formation of lithium-enriched brines in a hyper-arid continental basin

Chem. Geol.

(2018)

N. Muñoz et al.

Uplift of the western border of the Altiplano on a west-vergent thrust system, northern Chile

J. S. Am. Earth Sci.

(1996)

B. Orberger et al.

Stable isotopes (Li, O, H) combined with chemistry: powerful tracers for Li origins in Salar deposits from the Puna region, Argentina

Procedia Earth and Planetary Science.

(2015)

C. Paola et al.

The “unreasonable effectiveness” of stratigraphic and geomorphic experiments

Earth Sci. Rev.

(2009)

M.J. Adad et al.

Seismic interpretation and Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Pozuelos Basin, Andean Plateau, Argentina

J. S. Am. Earth Sci.

(2020)

R.W. Allmendinger et al.

Paleogeography and Andean structural geometry, Northwest Argentina

Tectonics.

(1983)

R. Allmendinger et al.

The evolution of the Altiplano–Puna plateau of the Central Andes

Ann. Rev. Earth and Planetary Sci.

(1997)

H. Alonso et al.

Geoquímica del Salar de Atacama, parte 1: origen de los componentes y balance salino

Rev. Geol. Chile

(1996)

R.N. Alonso et al.

A new Tertiary borax deposit in the Andes

Mineral. Deposita

(1988)

R.N. Alonso et al.

Giant evaporite belts of the Neogene Central Andes

Geology.

(1991)

R.N. Alonso et al.

Tectonics, climate, and landscape evolution of the southern central Andes: the Argentine Puna plateau and adjacent regions between 22 and 30° S

J.W. An et al.

Recovery of lithium from Uyuni salar brine

Hydrometallurgy.

(2012)

Y.A. Babeyko et al.

Numerical models of crustal scale convection and partial melting beneath the Altiplano-Puna plateau

Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.

(2002)

P. Baby et al.

Neogene shortening contribution to crustal thickening in the back arc of the Central Andes

Geology.

(1997)

A. Belmonte

Krustale Seismizit7t, Struktur und Rheologie der Oberplatte zwischen der Pr7kordillere und dem magmatischen Bogen in Nordchile (228–248S). PhD thesis

(2002)

P.S.J. Bevacqua

Geomorfología del Salar de Atacama y estratigrafía de su núcleo y delta, Segunda Región de Antofagasta, Chile

L.G. Borda et al.

Geoquímica del Li y As en el salar de Olaroz, Puna de Jujuy. Resultados preliminares

T. Boschetti et al.

New and past geochemical data on fresh to brine waters of the Salar de Atacama and Andean Altiplano, northern Chile

Geofluids.

(2007)

D.F. Bouttt et al.

Rapid recharge of fresh water to the halite-hosted brined aquifer of Salar de Atacama

Chile. Hydrol. Processes.

(2016)

L. Brackebusch

Estudios sobre la Formación Petrolífera de Jujuy

Boletín de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Córdoba.

(1883)

L. Brackebusch

Mapa geológico del interior de la República Argentina, escala 1:1.000.000

Gotha.

(1891)

R.R. Canavan et al.

Early Cenozoic uplift of the Puna Plateau, Central Andes, based on stable isotope paleoaltimetry of hydrated volcanic glass

Geology.

(2014)

L.R. Catalano

Boro-Berilio-Litio (una nueva fuente natural de energía)

(1964)

F.W. Clark

The data of geochemistry

(1924)

COCHILCO

Compilación de informes sobre Mercado internacional del litio y potencial del litio en salares del norte de Chile. Comisión Chilena del Cobre y SerNaGeoMin

(2013)

B. Coira et al.

Upper Cenozoic magmatic evolution of the Argentine Puna - A model for changing subduction geometry

Int. Geol. Rev.

(1993)

L.G. Corenthal et al.

Regional groundwater flow and accumulation of a massive evaporate deposit at the margin of the Chilean Altiplano

Geophys. Res. Lett.

(2016)

P. Crespo et al.

Tratamiento químico de salmueras del Salar de Uyuni, Potosí

UMSa-ORSTOM, Informe

(1987)

J. Davis et al.

Origin of the lithium-rich brine, Clayton Valley, Nevada. U.S

Geol. Den. Surv. Bull.

(1986)

R.J. Dingman

Geology and ground-water resources of the northern part of the Salar de Atacama, Antofagasta Province, Chile

(1967)

R.J. Durán Iriza

Modelación numérica y su contribución al estudio del comportamiento hidrogeológico del sector SW del acuífero del Salar de Atacama, II Región de Antofagasta, Chile. Msc Thesis

(2012)

S.O. Egenhoff et al.

Chemical and isotopic composition of lower to upper Ordovician sedimentary rocks (Central Andes /South Bolivia): implications for their source

J. Geol.

(2003)

G.E. Ericksen

Rhyolite tuff, a source of the salts of northern Chile. Geol. Survey Research. U.S

Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap.

(1961)

G.E. Ericksen

Geology of the Salt Deposits and the Salt Industry of Northern Chile

(1963)

G.E. Ericksen et al.

Geology and resources of salars in the central Andes

(1977)

G.E. Ericksen et al.

Geology and resources of salars in the central Andes

(1987)

G.E. Ericksen et al.

Lithium resources of salars in the Central Andes. U.S

Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap.

(1976)

Cited by (30)

Lithium-rich geothermal brines in Europe: An up-date about geochemical characteristics and implications for potential Li resources

2022, Geothermics
Extracting lithium from these salt lakes is relatively easy and cheap, compared to the complex and energy-intensive extraction technologies involved for hard-rock deposits, which may require several chemical transformations. The most known salt pans are located in the lithium triangle - also called lithium ABC (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile) - which stretches from northern Argentina (salar de Hombre Muerto) to western Bolivia (salar de Uyuni) and northern Chile (salar de Atacama) and have been studied by numerous authors (Risacher, 1984; Risacher and Fritz, 2000; Risacher et al., 2003; Kesler et al., 2012; Godfrey et al., 2013; Munk et al., 2018; Schmidt, 2019; Garcia et al., 2021; Lopez Steinmetz, 2021). High lithium contents can be found in these salars (up to 6400 mg/l, being the maximum known Li concentration; Lopez Steinmetz et al., 2018). View all citing articles on Scopus