Albemarle Corporation Lithium Operation at Silver Peak

USA / Nevada / Tonopah /
 mine, production
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This plant extracts lithium from brines pumped from aquifiers below the valley and has been in production since 1967. The plant is designed to produce 1.2 million kg of lithium per year and to date has produced an estimated 50 million kg of lithium. Rodinia’s property is adjacent to this production facility.

In 1975, I.A. Kunasz of the American Institute of Mining, estimated the mineral endowment of Clayton Valley to be 750 million kg of lithium. A more recent study by Price, Lechler, Lear and Giles in 2000, suggests that significantly more lithium was released into the Clayton Valley catchment by the weathering of high lithium bearing rocks. They suggest that as groundwater enters the basin, it appears to be dissolving lithium minerals accumulated in valley sediment and is partially recharging the lithium content of the brine, while mining operations have been ongoing.

In addition to the claims covered under the Option, Rodinia through its U.S. subsidiary has staked an additional 284 claims (45,440 acres) in Clayton Valley. These mining claims will form part of the Property under an area of mutual interest clause in the Agreement. When combined with the claims under option, Rodinia now has a total of 50,440 acres under its control, accounting for approximately 90% of the valley. Rodinia has planned an aggressive exploration program to target additional layers of lithium bearing brines which may exist throughout the property.

www.rodiniaminerals.com/projects/clayton_valley/

The pools and operations you see on Google Earth are the Chemmetal Foote operations. Rodinia is one of several other companies sniffing around the edges of this area.
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Coordinates:   37°46'53"N   117°33'7"W

Comments

  • It is the Silver Peak Mine in Esmeralda County - they mine Lithium there. The pools of water are leach ponds, which is part of the process of seperating the lithium from the ore.
  • Tesla company had a deal to get Lithium from here
This article was last modified 2 years ago