Lithium brine

Lithium brine is groundwater containing dissolved lithium, often concentrated in arid, closed basins. It is a major source of lithium extracted for industrial use.

Evaporation pond: A shallow, engineered basin that concentrates dissolved substances as water evaporates. Solar evaporation traditionally raises lithium concentrations before further processing.
Closed basin: A drainage basin with no outlet to the ocean, where water leaves mainly through evaporation. Closed drainage allows dissolved salts and lithium to accumulate over time.
Salar de Atacama: A salt flat in northern Chile containing major lithium-rich brine deposits. Its brines support one of the world's largest lithium-producing operations.
Spodumene: A lithium-bearing pyroxene mineral mined as a hard-rock source of lithium. It supplies lithium through ore mining rather than pumping dissolved lithium from groundwater.
Direct lithium extraction: A group of processes that selectively remove lithium from brines without relying on prolonged evaporation. These methods offer an alternative to concentrating brine in large evaporation ponds.
Saline groundwater: Groundwater containing elevated concentrations of dissolved salts. Lithium brines are saline groundwater with economically relevant lithium concentrations.
Salar de Uyuni: A vast salt flat in southwest Bolivia underlain by lithium-bearing brines. Its large resource has faced development challenges, including brine chemistry and infrastructure.
Lithium clay: A clay-rich deposit containing lithium dispersed in mineral structures or pore fluids. Clay deposits are another resource type, with extraction routes distinct from conventional brines.
Ion exchange: A separation process that swaps ions between a solution and a solid material. Some direct extraction systems capture lithium by exchanging ions with a sorbent.
Aquifer: A permeable underground formation that stores and transmits groundwater. Aquifers host brine and govern how it moves through a basin.

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