Next we look at some work from
“PREMIERES ESTIMATIONS TECHNIQUES ET FINANCIERES DU PROJET "LITHIUM" by GEOMINES, in 1976.
Geomines spent many years studying producing lithium carbonate on site at Manono, unfortunately they chose to focus on the limited tailings resource due to the lower cost associated with mining tailings. But there are still some useful pieces of information.
“II.2 The Spodumene Deposit of Manono
The company GEOMINES owns 50% of ZAIRETAIN, a Zairian company that operates a tin mine in Manono (Zaire).
ZAIRETAIN has significant and proven reserves of spodumene ore and desires to produce and market lithium chemicals therefrom.
ZAIRETAIN also possesses a heap rich in spodumene (1.25% Li D) consisting of the rejection (<1 mm) of an old draining screen 2 which was located at the end of a cassiterite enrichment circuit contained in The Manono hard pegmatites from 1952 to 1956.
The dense medium recovery of the spodumene contained in these settling sands is very easy and without much investment, as has been clearly demonstrated by research recently carried out in the mineral preparation laboratory of the Faculty of Engineering at Mons (directed by Professor Moiset). It is thus very easily possible to obtain a spodumene recovery efficiency of 80% and a content of 6.2% of Li2O”
This met testing is separate / different to the work done by Bassot previously cited.
“The Manono sands alone could produce 4,000 t / year of lithium carbonate for at least 10 years (5,000,000 t of sand).
GEOMINES intends to develop, in association with the mineral preparation laboratory of the Polytechnic Faculty of Mons, a complete flow sheet of Manono sands by dense cycloning and then pilot plant testing in Manono.
It is possible to envisage working by campaigns in order to recover in the same installation the Sno2 contained in the stanniferous laterites (about 100 to 120 gr / t of Sn02 released for the (1mm).) “
“The following flow sheet, which is based on the few data relating to the sands of the Mons report, gives us an idea of the way forward”
(Notice that tin and spodumene concentrate are the outputs)
The following is from:
“VALORISATION DU LITHIUM CONTENU DANS UN CONCENTRE DE MINERAI DE SPODUMENE PROVENANT DU GISEMENT DE MANONO, ZAIRE”
31st December 1980 By Professor Rene Winand at University Libre De Bruxelles
“I. INTRODUCTION
A company GEOMINES had asked us to develop and develop a process to extract the lithium contained in a spodumene ore whose deposit is located at MANONO in Zaire.
We therefore carried out the research work taking into account the final objective of establishing a lithium salt production plant at MANONO.”
“During the first year of research, we carried out the experimental study of several methods of recovering lithium contained in spodumene from MANONO, studies which led us to retain a lime process particularly well adopted to local constraints.
In the second year, we acquired equipment that allowed us to process larger quantities of material. We were thus able to test on a larger scale most of the main stages of the flow-sheet developed on the basis of the first experiments carried out on a small scale.
Thanks to these new experiments, we were able to improve the original flow sheet which had been proposed so that the process could have been the subject of the filing in Luxembourg of a patent on behalf of S.A. GEOMINES.
During this third year, we continued the micro-pilot scale tests on the installation we mounted to test the complete flow-sheet.
We have repeated a series of tests on an intermediate scale in order to specify the conditions necessary for obtaining good yields.
2.4.6. Conclusion of Tests
Although we again experienced some difficulties due to the change in the procedure imposed by the fact that the operations are now semi-continuous, we were able to reach 73% efficiency, this being calculated on the quantities of solution actually recovered. We are still thinking of improving the handling and ensuring a recovery of the products which will enable us to reach, even to exceed, 80% of yield.
Finally, we analyzed Li2CO3 produced by our process and found that by means of an intermediate step of selective precipitation of alumina and silica a product should be obtained which meets the specifications in use for lithium carbonate of technical quality.
Not the best specification as far as sodium level is concerned but certainly very promising and something modern spodumene convertors would be able to do much better.
Next we look at:
REPORT ON THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF ERTS ZAIRE IN NORTH SHABA, 1980-1981: EVALUATION OF THE GEOLOGIC AND MINEROLOGIC POTENTIAL OF NORTH
SHABA BY MEANS OF LANDSAT IMAGERY AND OTHER AVAILABLE DATA
“16. The Manono Deposit. Production, Potential Reserves
The Manono tin deposit was discovered in approximately 1918. By 1925 surficial deposits of about 3 meters in thickness had been mined and the main ore body (hard rock pegmatite) was discovered. This deposit consists of a lenticular pegmatite deposit which extends over a total distance of 14 km
.”
“Type of Material Mined
All the material mined to present has been secondary type alluvial or weathered (altered) bed rock. No hard rock material has ever been mined though similar values are known (have been sampled for) in the hard rock pegmatites.”
“A drilling program was conducted at the Kitotolo pegmatite in the late 1950's. This drilling was limited in area and especially depth. No drill hole found the bottom of the pegmatite ore body, tenors exceed 1.5 kilos/ton in every case. The deposit is open to the south east, and in both directions along it's strike.”
“Although this material is hard rock it would not be very difficult to mine it in an open pit or to setup crushers. The prevalent feeling is that the material is extremely hard and would not lend itself to crushing. This is not the case as pegmatites are extremely friable due to (the large crystal size) their coarse nature and the fact that 85% of the components have cleavage planes along which breakage occurs. In addition the cassiterite (tin) and colombo-tantalite occurs in distinct grains and not as compounds with gangue elements. These grains crystallized at depth under great pressure and remain under pressure presently. Any blasting of the deposit will produce a release in pressure and loosen these grains before they arrive at the crusher.”
“The conclusion to be drawn from observation of the mine is that the superficial, secondary, deposits are very easily worked either by primitive or modern mechanized methods and that primary, hard rock deposits would not create undue engineering problems. Of course an engineers report would provide details on the exact nature of the problems if any existed.”
“According to available sources, total production for the mine from 1918 to 1972 was 177,000 tons of SnO2 . Since 1972 best estimates place production at 18,750 tons of SnO2 for a total production of 195,750 tons of SnO2. Production in 1979 was (according to reliable sources) 760 tons of SnO2. The most recent production figures from Zairetain indicate that production has gone from 40 tons in November and has stayed at an average of 37 tons for December, January and February. If production continues at this level production for 1980 cannot be expected to exceed 450 tons.”
“This decreased production is not due to a decrease in reserves. In 1972 reserves were said to be on the order of 140,000 tons SnO
2. The decreased production is due to mismanagement, poor and very old equipment, no supervision, lack of parts, lack of maintenance, lack of training of a Zairois cadre, extremely low wages and low morale.”
“Even with the equipment available production could be increased by improving wages, by repairing some of the equipment on site and by improved supervision and control. With a doubling of wages it is certain that production would double.”
“Reserves
By subtracting the figures given as reserves in 1972 and the tin produced since then, we arrive at reserves of 121,000 tons SnO2, not including approximately 3 percent columbo-tantalite which would amount to 3,700 tons. The source for these reserves is the "Notice Explicative 1974", and it does not specify whether these reserves are in hard rock or in superficial alluvial/elluvial deposits. “
“These reserves must also be taken with a grain of salt since very little work has been done by Geomine/Zairetain outside the immediate mine area and areas with tenors of less than 500 grams per cubic meter are not considered in these calculations. “
“Reserves of hard rock have been calculated for a very small area in the central quarry at Kitotolo. No drilling program has been conducted outside of this quarry. “
“In addition,the pegmatite ore body dips to the south east under the dumps and no drilling or sampling has been carried out on this area. Mineralization (tenors) in the quarry walls do not appear to decrease in the entire south east wall in the Kitotolo quarries or those of Manono. “
“Reserves
A. In superficial gravels, elluvial and alluvial deposits, based on data as shown on maps found at Zairetain:”
“C. Reserves Hard Rock. No definitive figures were available for the hard rock reserves as it appears that Geomines is guarding this information rather carefully. As mentioned, Robert (1957) says 100,000 tons SnO2 were blocked out (
estimated) in a small area of the Kitotolo quarry.
What we do know is:
- That values of cassiterite continue within the same levels as in the superficial (alluvial) deposits i.e., from 300 grams to 2.5 kilos per m3 (this was done by drilling).
- The pegmatite ore bodies are unmapped as to depth and extent towards the south east.”
(Very important to note consistency of tin grades)
“We can therefore make some basic assumptions concerning reserves in the hard rocks at Kitotolo only:”
( To convert M3 to tonnes, multiply by SG of 2.8 = 225M m3 * 2.8 = 630MT)
Now a quick citation from:
LITHIUM ABUNDANCE - WORLD LITHIUM RESERVE, R. Keith Evans
“The largest known lithium-containing pegmatites occur in the vicinity of Manono. Each of a pair has a length of 5,000 metres and a width of approximately 400 metres. The weathered zone has been worked for tin and columbite .
Assuming a depth of only 50 metres the pegmatites could contain 2.3 million tonnes of Li.”
AN ABUNDANCE OF LITHIUM PART TWO, R. Keith Evans, July 2008
“In Zaire he describes the Manono and Kitolo pegmatites as a speculative resource. Hardly. He quotes Kogel's statement which, if it refers only to pegmatites, is almost certainly correct as “dwarfing the currently known world reserves”. Tahil further states that the figure I quoted of 2.3 million tonnes Li “tells nothing of the quality, grade and feasibility of extracting it”. The tonnage was published in the NRC report as 520 million tonnes of ore grading 0.6% Li (a typical grade for most pegmatites). The panel reduced the tonnage, all open-pitable, by 75% to account for mining, beneficiation and processing losses to give a total of 2.34 million tonnes of recoverable lithium. Any project would have the potential of co-producing tin, columbite and tantalite. “
(I cite this particular author as he is probably the most credible expert on lithium resources in the world, worked at most of the majors for a career spanning decades and was part of team that originally identified potential of SQM’s atacama deposit, which is the lowest cost in the world)
Now some selected passages from:
STUDY OF THE MANONO-KITOTOLO AREA (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO).
ROYAL MUSEUM FOR CENTRAL AFRICA Department of Geology and Mineralogy
This was a report commissioned for yours truly. Some interesting parts I’ll cite here.
“The Manono deposit is located in the continuation of a depression in the Kibara orogen: the Upemba zone. The metamorphic schists, which the pegmatites intrudes, belong to formations of the Kibara system. The general orientation of the pegmatites is ~ N 50° E. The western part (Kitotolo) is surrounded by vertical to sub-vertical micaschists, orientated circa N 50° E. and the dip varies locally of 30° to the north or to the south.”
The Manono deposits can locally reach 700 m of widt and stretch over a distance of 15 km in length. The main deposit can be divided into two parts: Kitotolo in the southwest and Manono-Kahungwe in the northeast. In between those 2 pegmatite bodies, there is a gap of about 2 to 3 km where an outcrop of oriented granite and a pegmatite containing spodumene is visible at the dam.”
“The main ore in the pegmatite is the cassiterite and is homogeneously present in the whole pegmatite body.”
“In some places, at the contact with the schist, some greisen of various facies can be found. For example, some aggregates of tiny quartz and white micas crystals, groups of large crystals of quartz and micas (sometimes lithic), mixtures of quartz needles, etc. Those greisens are generally very rich in cassiterite. In the opposite, the quartz formations either at the contact of the dolerite or in the dolerite, or in the micaschists are free of cassiterite.”
“In some places, some small concentrations of thoreaulite where found, in quartz lenses, at the north border of Manono deposits. This thoreaulite contains 57 % of Ta2O5, 17 % of Nb2O5 and 20 % of SnO2.”
“The spodumene, which is the main Li mineral occurs in large quantities in the pegmatite of Manono. It is presented under different forms: either in small crystals of several centimetres, in long thin crystals that can reach sometimes a metre in length, or in large crystals randomly oriented in the rock, or in very large crystals (Kahungwe).”
“The proportion of spodumene in the pegmatite can largely vary from metre to metre. It can reach in some places 25 %. The spodumene is altered rather quickly, as well as the feldspars. The altered substance tends towards the kaolin.”
“A borehole that has been carried out in the hard-rock pegmatite in the western part of the Kitotolo quarry, shows that the pegmatite reaches a depth of at least 100 metres (open in depth). The deepest parts often show an interesting grade of mineralisation.”
“A sub-horizontal structure of the pegmatite would indicate that there could be continuation of the pegmatite in the vicinity of the known bodies.”
“A borehole (5 m deep) through well-mineralised pegmatite (more than 4 kg SnO2/m.) reveals the presence of pegmatite bodies 2 km to the north of the Kitotolo quarry, which is a good indication in favour of the sub-horizontal trend of the pegmatite lens. Moreover, the well-mineralised pegmatite in the close vicinity of the hydrographic network composed of recent and old alluvium strongly suggests the presence of mineralisation in these alluvial deposits.”
“A few studies were made during the 50’ to evaluate the interest of Lithium in produced concentrates (6% of Li oxide present in commercial ore). Two pilot plants were build at Angleur (Belgium) and Manono. In 1957, due to bad stain economic and general situation in the country, both plants were closed and all researches on Lithium stopped.”
“8.2 The electrical power supply
The expansion of the Manono-site and the evolution the mechanised exploitation and oredressing methods created the need for a lot of electrical power (70F/2). Therefore Geomines constructed in the early thirties a hydro-electrical PowerStation at the falls of the Luvua river at Piana-Mwanga (Map 7), some 90 km from Manono in the direction of lake Mweru. The workings on the hydrological constructions started in the late twenties: Eight earth/rock dams were constructed to confine a manageable quantity of water flow to a 4 km long river channel, the Kazanza, chosen to supply the power plant. The river channel was deepened and obstacles removed where necessary and where possible. An additional channel from the river channel to the plant, covering a level difference of 23m, was carved in the rock. The power plant of Piana-Mwanga I started up in December 1933 and had a capacity of 35,000 kVA. In the late fifties the power station was extended with a second building and hydroelectrical power installation, Piana-Mwanga II. The construction of a second water supply channel and the second power station started in 1952. Electricity production of the second plant started in august 1958 with 3 power generating units of 7460 kW.”
“8.3 The transformer plant at Piana-Mwanga.
The power generated by both power stations is send to a common transformation station (70A/6). The station, in use from 1958 on, is equipped with three monophase transformers: 3 x 11,000 kWh bringing the voltage from 6.3 kV to 130 kV. The installation has of course a control room, batteries, distributors and power interrupters for the alternators, and an emergency power supply.”
8.6 Performance of the hydro-electrical plant.
The performance of the hydro-electrical power plant in Piana-Mwanga was considered to be satisfactory (70F2). The last information we could find is dated 1985 and gives an overview of the electricity production and of the consumption and technical interventions. Of the 5 groups available only 2 were used for production because they covered the need of power in Manono, some 1,500,000. kWh, while in the seventies, at full capacity, the plant produced some 4,500,000. kWh.
8.7 The water supply
All water supply, domestic and industrial, comes from an artificial water reservoir of 10,000,000 m., generated by constructing a weir on the Lukushi river between Manono and Kitotolo (70C5). The earth dam has a length of 1600 m equipped with 32 sluices of 2m wide and manual adjustable spilways to regulate the water level in the reservoir. A pumping station, constructed in 1933, with 5 pumps ACEC 1000 m./h at 75m, driven by synchronic and asynchronic electromotors (390 CV-6600V) provides for the water distribution destined to the mine and ore dressing plants as well as for domestic usage.”
That's it for now, really the best of what I've read so far. Should have some drill hole results to look at and make all this old information obsolete soon.
