Saskatchewan’s position as a player in the lithium arena appears to be strengthening.
There were a couple announcements this month from one of the first companies to get into the provincial lithium play. One is related to their new plant for extracting lithium from underground water in southeast Saskatchewan. The other is related to the acquisition of rights to more land to access the underground lakes that carry concentrations of the mineral used in making batteries.
Traditionally, it has been mined where lithium-bearing rock is pulverized and put into a slurry then allowed to evaporate in large ponds. Once the pools have dried up, sometimes a year or two later, the lithium is collected.
The system being developed in Saskatchewan uses a filter to extract lithium carbonate from water which can then be recycled back to its original source through a disposal well. Arizona Lithium says its Saskatchewan pilot plant has returned 96 per cent lithium recovery and with its added land position, its lithium reserves could meet current global consumption for nine years.
