The Beneficiation of Lithium from A Brine Solution of Afdera Lake Using Evaporation and Chemical Treatment Method, Afar, North Eastern Ethiopia
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Date
2023-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Lithium is a crucial metal with a rapidly growing market demand, mostly due to its use in lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and medical devices. Lithium resources connected to pegmatites and rift-bound brine deposits may exist in Ethiopia. The current project work, the beneficiation of lithium was conducted on Afdera brine lake Afar, North Eastern Ethiopia. This project aims beneficiating lithium using Evaporation and chemical treatment method. Totally 20 litter sample were collected from the lake using Purposive and random sampling method in order to analyzed in the laboratory for Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) for the Lithium and major cation as well as for beneficiating lithium metal from the brine solution. The AAS result of the Lithium contents in brine water of Afdera lake is 8.7ppm which is relatively higher than other lakes in the main Ethiopian rift. The concentration of Sodium and potassium is extremely higher in the lake which is 82946 ppm and 661.5 ppm respectively while lithium is much lower. Even if the Lithium concentrations is below the cut of grade 200ppm it was processed using evaporation and chemical treatment method and the content of the lithium reached 53.8% in the concentrate. Despite the lake's lithium concentrations being below what can be commercially extracted, it can still be processed as a byproduct during the manufacturing of potash using sun evaporation pans. The current study strongly suggests that additional research is needed merely to assess the lithium resources as a primary product and as a secondary byproduct during the potash mining process in Afdera Lake and the surrounding area.
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Keywords
ithium, brine solution of Afdera lake, chemical treatment, Afar, North Eastern Ethiopia