NOVA SCOTIA - Greenlight Resources of Vancouver says lithium, rare metals and industrial minerals have been successfully extracted lithium concentrate using the Silchlor chlorination process. The company owns the Brazil Lake lithium-bearing pegmatite property in Yarmouth County. The report outlining the results of the Silchlor cyclic vacuum chlorination process was verified by an independent qualified person, and Greenlight believes eventually it could be applied to the extraction of economic minerals on a commerical scale.
Confirmation tests were successfully conducted for the digestion of the lithium pyroxene concentrate from the Brazil Lake deposit. The iron, aluminum and lithium chloride products where produced under the test conditions claimed by Silchlor. These products can be converted to oxides or carbonates if required by known chemical processes. The process also shows promise for the purification of tantalum, niobium and rubidium. The next stage of development will be the modification of the vessel design to allow the testing of larger samples in preparation for pilot plant work.
The process, Greenlight explains, involves chlorination at multiple increasing temperatures including a vacuum stage to volatize certain chlorides. Chloride vapors of Si, Al, Fe, Li, Rb, Na and K are produced using this method. The off-gases of the process are then cooled to precipitate various chlorides with the final stage being the production of SiCl4 by passing the gases through water.
The 43-101 report dated April 2010 and revised in June of that year, includes a thorough discussion of the regional and property geologies. It is posted at www.GreenlightResources.com.
Comments