Grant: Alliance Grants

With the demand for lithium expected to outpace supply in coming years, governments are incentivizing the rapid development of their lithium resources. Most of Canada's lithium is contained in hard-rock deposits which are commonly processed using flotation. The semi-soluble and non-selective nature of the reagents (tall oil fatty acids) used in lithium mineral flotation have led to industrial challenges like process instability, particularly during plant commissioning. Additionally, when flotation is used to process low-grade ores, process performance is typically lower than for the flotation of high-grade ores. The proposed project will employ experimental and modelling studies to quantify the potential for processing low-grade lithium deposits in the Canadian context and to establish engineering design parameters to enable tailored equipment design for lithium mineral processing plants. The research will be led by Dr. Charlotte Gibson of Queen's University in collaboration with Rock Tech Lithium and Primero Group Americas. Throughout the project, Rock Tech Lithium will provide ore samples and technical guidance, and Primero Group Americas will lend lithium process plant engineering expertise. The program will employ laboratory flotation testing, mineral surface characterization studies, and greenhouse gas emissions modelling to achieve three primary outcomes: (1) The generation of fundamental knowledge related to the flotation of lithium minerals from low -grade deposits, (2) the development of engineering design parameters - specifically kinetic rates constants - for lithium bearing ores with varying mineralogy, and (3) the quantification of the potential for the responsible development of low-grade lithium deposits in Canada.