50+ years of Recovery in the ...

50+ years of Recovery in the Mining Industry

Benito,

The mining industry has been doing this for decades.  Look for information on zinc recovery from Salton Sea, boron from Southern California, lithium from Bolivia, potassium from Argentina.  Almost all the lithium currently in all the lithium batteries in the world was recovered from brines.  As the other posters note, it’s all about the economics and the undesirable side reactions trying to separate saleable commodities.  Look to the literature on Economic Geology and you will find many papers on the process chemistry and economics of extractions from brines.  The most important point to remember is that just like an ore body, the product to be recovered and the process to do it is entirely dependent on the brine-specific chemistry.  While the thermodynamics may be transferrable from site to site, economics and side reactions will always be highly variable.

Cheers,

Greg