On different subject mater;
Whinge Alert - The ASX has red day, falling 0.84%, and PLS falls 10 x that, no need for leverage, and glad I'm not
DLE (Direct Lithium Extraction) - Have been researching, reading up on this tech, but can't decide if DLE is any better than conventional evaporation method, from an ESG perspective. Note that the below excerpt is from a study, which was complete yesterday, maybe it was updated today....
Current lithium (Li) production from salar brines relies on the evaporation of largevolumes of water from brine, raising concerns about possible impacts on lagoon ecosystems inthe mixing zone, at the edge of the salar nucleus. An application of Direct Lithium Extraction(DLE) to salar brines could reduce the need for evaporation, leaving large volumes of brine with less lithium in it. This study uses a constant-density MODFLOW model conceptuallyrepresenting a part of the Salar de Atacama, Chile, to test whether spent DLE brine couldbe strategically reinjected into the upper halite aquifer to reduce the inow of water fromthe mixing zone into the salar nucleus. It identifies that brine reinjection of up to around 12L/s into a 500m-wide stretch could reduce inow from the mixing zone and increase outowto the salar nucleus. At higher rates, increased evaporation from the water table ("phreaticevaporation") makes brine reinjection less efficient. Furthermore, high reinjection rates canlead to flooding of the surface in the reinjection area, which can be mitigated by distributingthe total reinjection ow among a higher number of wells. The most critical effect of highreinjection rates from a conservation perspective is that brine can flow into the mixingzone, threatening the water quality of its brackish water ecosystems. The vulnerability ofthe mixing zone is especially high in summer, when its water levels are lower, seasonallylimiting safe reinjection rates. The design of a reinjection strategy will critically dependon the hydraulic conductivity of the brine-receiving layer. An accurate and high-resolutiontopographic survey of the model area is fundamental to correctly estimate evaporation fromthe water table. Reinjection will need to be accompanied by constant monitoring of waterlevels during operation to prevent brine ow into the mixing zone. Despite the limitationsof this model (constant density, small model area, constant heads at the model boundaries,rough characterization of hydraulic properties), its results are valuable for future work, asthey point out important limitations and trends with spent DLE brine reinjection will face.In this sense, this study is meant as a starting point for modelling spent DLE brine reinjectionwhich should be expanded and improved by future modelling work. Any reinjection projectmust avoid the inflow of brine into the mixing zone, as this would damage the very ecosystemsDLE, in principle, allows to protect. When this is accounted for, this study finds that brinereinjection in the salar nucleus could mitigate potential impacts of depletive brine extractionand evaporation on the mixing zone ecosystems.
Let there be rock, please.
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