Spodumene

Spodumene is a lithium-bearing pyroxene mineral found mainly in granitic pegmatites. Its lithium content makes it an important ore for producing lithium compounds.

Pyroxene: Pyroxenes are a major group of rock-forming silicate minerals built from chains of linked silica tetrahedra. Spodumene belongs to this mineral group and shares its characteristic chain-silicate structure.
Froth flotation: Froth flotation separates minerals by making selected particles attach to bubbles and rise in a water-based slurry. It can concentrate spodumene from crushed pegmatite ore.
Hard-rock lithium mining: Hard-rock lithium mining extracts lithium-bearing minerals from solid rock deposits, especially pegmatites. Spodumene is the principal mineral target in this form of lithium production.
Petalite: Petalite is a lithium aluminium silicate mineral found in granitic pegmatites. It is another pegmatite lithium ore, but has a different structure and lithium content.
Inosilicate: Inosilicates are silicate minerals whose tetrahedra form single or double chains. Spodumene’s crystal framework is built from single chains of silica tetrahedra.
Dense medium separation: Dense medium separation sorts particles by density using a fluid or suspension of controlled density. It can reject lower-density waste rock before finer spodumene processing.
Lithium-ion battery: A lithium-ion battery stores and releases energy by moving lithium ions between electrodes. Lithium chemicals made from spodumene supply materials used in these batteries.
Lepidolite: Lepidolite is a lithium-rich mica mineral, typically pink, lilac, or gray. This lithium-bearing mica contrasts with spodumene’s pyroxene structure and processing route.
Pegmatite: Pegmatites are exceptionally coarse-grained igneous rocks, commonly forming as late-stage products of granitic magma. These rocks host most economically significant spodumene deposits.
Calcination: Calcination heats a solid to cause chemical or structural changes, often without melting it. Heating spodumene changes its crystal structure into a form more amenable to lithium extraction.

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Lithium miningBroader topic: This is the principal lithium mineral extracted from many hard-rock deposits.