GeoRessources, Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CREGU, Nancy, France.
TotalEnergies, Centre Scientifique et Technique Jean Féger, Pau, France.
Sci Rep. 2021 Oct 26;11(1):21091. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-99912-7.
Electric cars will require to increase the production of lithium dramatically (up to 2 Mtons lithium equivalent carbonate per year by 2030). However, conventional hard-rock and salar mining are facing environmental and social concerns. Therefore, alternative lithium resources may help meeting the global demand for the next decades. Here, we provide a systematic analysis of published lithium concentration in about 3000 samples of groundwater from 48 sedimentary basins worldwide. The highest lithium concentrations (> 10 mg l) are primarily found in high salinity waters (Total Dissolved Solids > 10 mg l) and are in the same range as brines from the most productive salars. Conservative estimations based on fluid volume and lithium concentration in selected reservoirs indicate that these lithium resources are comparable to salars and hard-rock mines (0.1-10 Mtons lithium). Therefore, lithium in groundwater from sedimentary basins could be a significant potential resource for the next decades.
电动汽车将需要大幅增加锂的产量（到 2030 年每年达到 200 万吨碳酸锂当量）。然而，传统的硬岩和盐湖开采面临着环境和社会方面的问题。因此，替代锂资源可能有助于满足未来几十年的全球需求。在这里，我们对全球 48 个沉积盆地约 3000 个地下水样本中的锂浓度进行了系统分析。最高的锂浓度（>10mg/L）主要存在于高盐度水中（总溶解固体>10mg/L），与最具生产力的盐湖卤水处于同一范围。基于选定储层中的流体体积和锂浓度的保守估计表明，这些锂资源与盐湖和硬岩矿山相当（0.1-100 万吨锂）。因此，沉积盆地地下水的锂可能是未来几十年的一个重要潜在资源。
