..."There was also a very good question from a professor of geology: How does it behave with the lithium content of the water from the depth, if one extracts the lithium and then brings the water again into the depth? Won't the water then contain less and less lithium or will the lithium wash out of the rock so quickly that the content will not decrease?"
Yes, TOG, a good question.
A few years back now I was investigating the possibility of investing some of my funds into another Australian based company who were at that time, mucking around with using Geo-Thermal Brines derived from deep Bores they had drilled into hot, Granite, to then generate power from the steam flashed from the Brines, and within a closed-system, where the cooled Brine was then re-injected under pressure via another down-stream Bore, that was distantly spaced from the upstream Bore, but also drilled to the same depth, as it, which then allowed the cooler returned Brine, to percolate again through a multitude of micro-fissures in the Hot Granite bedrock, and once again re-gain heat from the rock, as it flowed its way back towards the upstream extraction Bore again. And so it was a very similar operation to that of the 'Berkshire Salton Sea power generation project' mentioned in the article above.
Now I am not an expert on Geo-Hydraulics, but, my own understanding of how these proposed DLE systems would work is that they would draw off the Lithia-rich Brines from a, deeply drilled, up-stream Bore, and then once the Brine was 'processed' to extract the Lithium content, the depleted Brine would then be re-injected via a separate and again distantly spaced downstream Bore but this time drilled to only a much shallower depth, than the extraction Bore, so let's assume for example the deep extraction Bore was drilled to 400 meters depth, but the re-injection Bore was only 50 meters depth.
This way, the returned Brine would then be allowed to once again slowly permeate the upper layers before then eventually percolating downwards, under gravity, and thus dissolving more Lithium rich salts from the intermediate soil/rock as it travels through it, thereby, replenishing the dissolved Lithium concentration, in the Brines, by the time it again, reached the depth of the extraction Bore. So again, a 'closed-re-circulation system' but this time, designed to function somewhat differently, to the already proven 'Geo-Thermal power generation' extraction model.
And so yes, while in theory, it should, work, ..the devil, is in the details, of just ..HOW, do you then ..ECONOMICALLY, extract the dissolved Lithium content from the Brines bu use of 'very-VERY, Tricky' and expensive, Chemical extraction, and ..Separation, methods, when, that problem is further complicated by the fact that every one of these DLE projects has its own, ..unique, Brine 'dissolved chemical composition profile', which ..always, requires a 'boutique' and specifically tailor-made, Chemical extraction, and Separation, ...solution, that ...only, suits that ...one project...??
And ..THAT, TOG, is what has proven, so far, to be the insurmountable stumbling block, for all of these various DLE processes, when being attempted at anything, outside of, Laboratory experimental scale...!
Meanwhile, ..our, own, long tried and very well proven, pond-impoundment, and Solar evaporation, and concentration methods, ..continue, to ..just work, and, to do so at, ...lowest cost.
Hold 'em ..TIGHT, Folks...!
AKE Price at posting:
$14.74 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
