Grant: Alliance Grants

Lithium is the key ingredient in the manufacture of batteries deemed crucial to decarbonization and clean energy transition but in short supply. Lithium therefore tops the 'critical minerals' list in Canada and many other countries. New lithium sources are required to meet rising demand, which is forecast to triple from 0.70M to 2M tonnes over the next 5-7 years. Sedimentary basins are unique in containing economic quantities of dissolved lithium that can be extracted through conventional deep wells. Economic concentrations are known to occur in the Williston Basin in Saskatchewan with several companies actively developing a new lithium resource by: (1) pumping fresh brine to surface; where (2) lithium is extracted using novel ion exchange techniques; and (3) spent brine is returned to the subsurface. Lithium exploration has thus far been guided by maps of lithium concentrations obtained from nearly three decades of government, academic, and industry sponsored research on Saskatchewan's subsurface brine resource. To better understand the fine-(well) scale distribution of lithium in the Williston Basin, a lithium exploration model is required to mitigate risk associated with high costs of drilling new wells in data poor regions. Understanding the distribution of lithium requires understanding the source of lithium, which at present is poorly constrained. Thus, to meet this objective, funding is requested to undertake the first study of lithium-brine origins in the Williston Basin using stable isotopes of lithium as a tracer. Lithium isotopes can distinguish important sources of lithium in sedimentary basin brines. And, when combined with new and existing data on oxygen, calcium, magnesium, and strontium isotopes, Cl-Br-Na systematics in brines and aquifer (rock) materials the lithium-brine migration history and thus present-day distribution can be deduced. This information will be used to pinpoint new high grade lithium targets in frontier areas of the Williston Basin with industry (ROK Resources, Isobrine Solutions) and government collaborators (Saskatchewan Geological Survey).