Guyana: Li & REE

Guyana: Li & REE
Guyana Government’s announcement of the discovery of lithium, geologists are on track to complete a mapping exercise over the next years to uncover some of the other types of precious minerals here. Lithium was first discovered in Guyana approximately five years ago.

Columbite-Tantalie (ColTan), Rare Earth Elements (REE), PGE group of elements, which includes platinum, palladium, and iridium are just a few of the minerals discovered by the local geologists over the years.
According to international mining expert, Guyanese are sitting on much wealth unknown to them. Being in Guyana give me firsthand information how luck this country is…

Referencing an article published in the Guyana Chronicle Newspaper on the discovery of lithium in Guyana, the geologist said, “We are at the first stage” while noting that “we can’t as a small nation rely on a one crop economy… we need to get an understanding of all of our minerals… the Geological Services Department discovered lithium about five years ago. Guyana Strategic Minerals is going to roll out the projects.”

While lithium is a chemical element that is derived from stones and is used in rechargeable batteries found in Mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras and electric vehicles, the other minerals discoverable would have significant value.
The geologists argued that with more exploration, discovery in large quantities is likely.

They believe that the “future is bright” and called for there to be equal amounts of focus being placed on other areas in the extractive industry.

“The extractive industry is not only about gold and diamond and now Lithium. It is about precious stones in Guyana
There is need for much more exploration to be done by companies, all are confident that Guyana will continue to shine in extractive sector.

GPP signs Binding Heads of Agreement with Guyana Strategic Metals Inc. to acquire up to a 74% interest in the Guyanese Morabisi Project, prospective for lithium, REE and tantalum. Opportunity to move into the highly sought after lithium and tantalum sector in a stable mining friendly nation.

District scale Lithium, Tantalum + Rare Earth Elements within LCT type Pegmatites Over 40 km of pegmatite vein/dyke network identified Widespread Ta/Nb alluvial deposits identified historically.

ABOUT GUYANA
Guyana is a stable mining friendly nation. Guyana is a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations and has the distinction of being the only South American nation in which English is the official language.

Guyana officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a sovereign state on the Caribbean coast of South America. Although Guyana is part of the Anglophone Caribbean, it is the only Caribbean country that is part of South America. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM), of which Guyana is a member, has its secretariat's headquarters in Guyana's capital, Georgetown.

Guyana officially became a republic. In 2008, the country joined the Union of South American Nations as a founding member.
Guyana contains one of the most prospective, yet under-explored, Lithium and gold regions in the world. The self-financing Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) is the government entity responsible for overseeing the country's mining and quarrying sector, a critical component of the Guyanese economy.

It is a stable parliamentary democracy with a population of approximately 770,000 people. Its currency is the Guyanese dollar, and its capital city is Georgetown, which is home to approximately 250,000 people. Guyana's other major cities include Linden, New Amsterdam, Rose Hall, Anna Regina, and Bartica.

WHY GUYANA IS AN EXCELLENT MINING JURISDICTION?
Westminster -style parliamentary democracy, English language and British Law
Government has followed a free-market model for development with a policy for economic liberalization and promotion of direct foreign investment
Stable Mining Act
Cost effective mining, mineral processing conditions
Lithium and gold mining and extraction process is much easier and low cost in Guyana because of richness and cleanness of the deposits.
Long history of bauxite, gold and diamond production, now lithium and tantalum
Real GDP growth in excess of 3% annually in average in recent years. Significant part of GDP is based on the extractive industries
Mineral exploration: 25+ Canadian, American and Australian companies

From Lithium Minerals to Lithium Chemicals
Today, lithium chemicals are produced either from lithium bearing brines or minerals. Lithium enriched brines.
In order to produce lithium chemicals for high tech devices from minerals, conversion to lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide is required.

Hydrometallurgical processes which may be applied to release lithium from minerals (spodumene, petalite, lepidolite, jadarite, hectorite, zinnwaldite, polylithionite or amblygonite) can be divided into the following major steps:
Calcination at temperatures > 800 °C
Leaching
Purification
Precipitation of lithium carbonate or –lithium hydroxide
In contrast to other lithium minerals, natural alpha-spodumene may be converted into beta-spodumene via calcination, offering specific leaching of lithium from the ore. Beta-spodumene may be digested in acid or base conditions.

Further hydrometallurgical purification improves quality with purities in excess of 99% lithium carbonate. Thereafter, conversion to lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide - the base materials for most derivative lithium chemical production - is performed.

When Li bearing minerals such as zinnwaldite or polylithionite are to be used for production of lithium chemicals a decomposition step is required. For this purpose, the minerals are mixed with alkali compounds, alkaline earth compounds (mainly sulphates) or mixtures thereof and are decomposed at temperatures > 800 °C.
The roasted product is then ground and leached with water to bring lithium into solution. Subsequently the leaching liquor is purified and lithium is precipitated as carbonate. If necessary, purity of the precipitated lithium carbonate can be upgraded by recrystallization. Hydrometallurgical Leaching Process may apply most of the Lithium extraction.

Conversion of lithium Minerals to Carbonate
Different processing routes for the conversion of lithium minerals to carbonate may be performed. Hydrometallurgical test work includes leaching and purification to high grade lithium carbonate. Special attention is paid to the specific by-products which may be created during leaching and purification.

Static and rotary furnaces can be used to test the calcination properties of spodumene ore and to optimize the temperature treatment for the conversion of alpha to beta spodumene.

Besides acid treatment, alternative leaching routes of beta spodumene can be tested including pressure leaching which is required if the sodium carbonate route is chosen. Once an optimized route for the specific material is chosen the leaching process can be scaled up to allow the hydrometallurgical purification steps to be performed, e.g. separation of leached material and precipitation of interfering chemical elements.

A process for purifying lithium chloride containing small amounts of impurities such as sodium, potassium, calcium, boron, sulphate and/or organic compounds which comprises heating lithium chloride contaminated with one or more of said impurities to a temperature in the range of from about 270° to about 325° C.