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Petroleum Geochemical Survey
Published in Muhammad Abdul Quddus, Petroleum Science and Technology, 2021
Phosphate mineral is a salt of phosphoric acid {H3(PO4)}. Phosphate ion (PO4)3– is an isolated tetrahedral coordinated radical. The radical combines with h equivalent positive cations, so that a neutral and stable phosphate mineral is produced. Variable physical properties are witnessed in the phosphate minerals. The mineral is vitreous, dull, with moderate density and average hardness. The phosphorus element in the ion is replaceable by arsenic, vanadium and antimony atoms to produce arsenate (AsO4)3–, vanadate (VO4)3– and antimonite (SbO4)3– minerals. About 200 phosphate minerals are known, often associated with other minerals; halite (Cl, Br and F)–1 and hydroxide (OH)– minerals. Some examples of phosphate minerals are as follows: Amblygonite (lithium, sodium, aluminum fluoride, hydroxide, phosphate).Anapaite (hydrated iron, calcium phosphate).Apatite (calcium chloride, fluoride, hydroxide, phosphate). Chloro-apatite (calcium chloro-phosphate) occurs in soil. It is a source of phosphorus food, consumed by plants. The fluoro-apatite (calcium fluoro-phosphate) mineral is found in animal bone. So the mineral is called ‘biological apatite’.
Industrial minerals
Published in Francis P. Gudyanga, Minerals in Africa, 2020
Lepidolite K(Li,Al,Rb)3(Al,Si)4O10(F,OH)2 is a phyllosilicate mineral [867] belonging to the mica group and a member of the polylithionite-trilithionite series. It is therefore evidently a secondary source of lithium. It is in fact associated with other lithium-bearing minerals such spodumene in pegmatite bodies and a source of the rare alkali metals rubidium and caesium [868] and of fluorine. It is commonly found in granite pegmatites, in some high-temperature quartz veins, greisens and granites. Minerals that include quartz, feldspar, spodumene, amblygonite, tourma-line, columbite, cassiterite, topaz and beryl are associated with lepidolite in the pegmatite bodies.
Beneficiation of lithium bearing pegmatite rock: a review
Published in Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Review, 2022
Saroj Kumar Sahoo, Sunil Kumar Tripathy, A. Nayak, K. C. Hembrom, S. Dey, R. K. Rath, M. K. Mohanta
Amblygonite is a mineral of granite pegmatites, where it occurs with other phosphates (such as apatite, lithophiite-triphylite, and monazite) and other lithium minerals (such as spodumene, lepidolite, petalite, and rubellite). The majority of greisenized granites are amblygonite granites. The amblygonite types are of the potassium type (Na/K < 1) chemically. Fluorine in the greisenizing solutions promoted lithium transfer and amblygonite deposition (Lyakhovich 1965). It may also form in high-temperature hydrothermal veins and greisen with topaz and cassiterite (Phillips and Griffen 1981). Amblygonite has the presence of fluorine, which creates a problem in the downstream process during lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide production as it produces lithium fluoride and hydrogen fluoride. So, it is not considered a resource for producing lithium compounds. It is never found in the largest accumulations and is always associated with other lithium minerals (Tadesse et al. 2019).
Review of Lithium Production and Recovery from Minerals, Brines, and Lithium-Ion Batteries
Published in Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Review, 2021
Fei Meng, James McNeice, Shirin S. Zadeh, Ahmad Ghahreman
Lithium-bearing minerals are mainly divided into two categories: phosphates and complex aluminum silicates. The minerals of commercial importance are spodumene, lepidolite, petalite, and amblygonite (Swain 2017). Spodumene is a stable lithium aluminum silicate (LiAlSi2O6), has a theoretical lithium content of 1.9–3.3% (British Geological Survey 2016; Meshram, Pandey and Mankhand 2014; Salakjani, Singh and Nikoloski 2019). Spodumene is the most important commercial mineral for Li extraction at an industrial scale and is characterized by high lithium content, extensive deposits, and commercially feasible to process (Forster 2011). It is now mostly extracted in the mine of Greenbushes (Australia) as a by-product of rare earth elements (GrosjeGrosjean et al. 2012). Lepidolite is a complex lithium mica, K(Li,Al)3(Si,Al)4O10(F,OH)3. It is commonly employed in supplying lithium to special glasses, ceramics, and glazes by direct addition of the ore. Petalite is a monoclinic lithium aluminum silicate, LiAlSi4O10, has a theoretical lithium content of about 1.6–2.1% (GrosjeGrosjean et al. 2012) (British Geological Survey 2016). Large deposits of petalite occur in southern Zimbabwe, Namibia, Brazil, and Australia. Amblygonite is a fluorophosphate mineral (Li,Na)AlPO4(F,OH), which contains about 3.5-4% Li and 20% P2O5, and often does not occur as the primary mineral in large deposits. It is often found in association with spodumene, lepidolite and other lithium-bearing minerals (Colton 1957; Kamienski et al. 2004). Table 2 provides the details of some important lithium minerals (British Geological Survey 2016; Christie and Brathwaite 2002; Clarke 2013; GrosjeGrosjean et al. 2012; Kogel et al. 2006; Meshram, Pandey and Mankhand 2014).