common methods for lithium ore beneficiation

Lithium ore beneficiation methods include manual selection, flotation, chemical or chemical-flotation combined method, thermal cracking method, radioactive method, particle flotation method, etc. The first three methods are more commonly used.

First, hand selection method

In the 1950s and 1960s, the manual selection method was one of the main methods of mineral processing in the production of lithium and antimony concentrates at home and abroad. In 1962, the world's beryl concentrate production was 7,400 tons, of which hand-selected concentrate accounted for 91%. This is mainly because most lithium and gold ores come from pegmatite deposits, with major industrial minerals such as spodumene and beryl selected for easy crystal selection. However, it should be noted that the labor intensity, low production efficiency, high resource waste and low selection index of manual selection are gradually being replaced by mechanical beneficiation methods. However, in developing countries where labor is cheap, artisanal selection remains the dominant method of producing lithium-rhenium concentrates.

Second, flotation method

The research and application of flotation method were earlier. In the 1930s, flotation was used for the industrial production of spodumene concentrate. Some spodumene flotation uses reverse flotation and some uses forward flotation. Lepidolite floats easily and is often used in flotation; industrial flotation of beryl is rarely reported. In China, flotation research on spodumene and beryl began in the late 1950s. Subsequently, lepidolite flotation, lithium niobium separation and other lithium plating were studied, and spodumene, beryl and lepidolite were identified. The flotation process is applied to new lithium electroplating beneficiation.

Third, chemistry or chemical-flotation combination method

This method is suitable for salt lake lithium mines that extract lithium salts. The process is to evaporate the brine in the dry area, precipitate the sodium salt and potassium salt, increase the lithium chloride concentration to about 6%, and then enter the factory to convert the lithium chloride into a solid lithium carbonate product through soda.

Lithium ore was the first method used for lithium extraction. It has developed more maturely, and the main process includes three steps of beneficiation, extraction and processing. At present, the main mature ones in Shangyi include hand separation-magnetic separation process, flotation magnetic separation process, flotation, gravity separation, magnetic separation combined process, mineral processing-chemical treatment combined process, and selective smelting combined process. Each process has its own characteristics and can be selected based on the composition and properties of the lithium deposit and the selection of the main product.

Lithium extraction from lithium ore mainly includes spodumene, lime sintering method, lepidolite, lime sintering method, spodumene, sulfuric acid roasting method, lepidolite roasting roasting method, spodumene-soda ash boiling method, etc. Recently, the main method for producing lithium metal is baked salt electrolysis, but this method consumes a large amount of direct current, while requiring the collection and processing of chlorine gas discharged from the anode, and the lithium salt (lithium chloride) as a raw material is expensive and has high purity. high standard.