Foote Lithium Brine Operation.

The Foote Lithium Brine Operation. is a lithium mine located in Esmeralda county, Nevada.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

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Site Name

Primary: Foote Lithium Brine Operation.

Commodity

Primary: Lithium

Location

State: Nevada
County: Esmeralda
District: Silver Peak Marsh (Clayton Valley) District

Land Status

Land ownership: BLM Administrative Area
Note: the land ownership field only identifies whether the area the mine is in is generally on public lands like Forest Service or BLM land, or if it is in an area that is generally private property. It does not definitively identify property status, nor does it indicate claim status or whether an area is open to prospecting. Always respect private property.

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: Foote Mineral Co., Silver Peak, Nv: George Kazonich, Operations Manager
Years: 1982 -

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1965
Year Last Production: 1982
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: L

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Form: BEDDED

Structure

Type: L
Description: Faults Cutting Li-Anomalous Volcanics Act As Conduits For Li-Rich Fluids

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Name: Unconsolidated Deposit
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Holocene

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: BRINES CONTAIN ABOUT 400 PPM LI AS WELL AS NA, K, MG, A LITTLE CA. LI/K=1:25 LI/MG=1:1.5. BRINE CONTAINS 12-18% TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS

Materials

Ore: Hectorite

Comments

Comment (Reserve-Resource): KUNASZ, 1975, P. 796.

Comment (Deposit): BRINE CONSISTS MAINLY OF SODIUM CHLORIDE WITH SMALLER AMOUNTS OF POTASSIUM, MAGNESIUM, LITHIUM, AND CALCIUM. MAGNESIUM CONTENT IS RELATIVELY LOW, SOT THAT LITHIUM CAN BE EXTRACTED WITHOUT MAGNESIUM RECOVERY.

Comment (Deposit): BRINES ARE PUMPED FROM BENEATH THE SURFACE INTO A SERIES OF PONDS WHICH ARE THEN CONCENTRATED BY SOLAR EVAPORATION. LITHIUM IS RECOVERED FROM THE CONCENTRATED BRINE BY PRECIPITATION AS LITHIUM CARBONATE. THE PRODUCT IS THEN SHIPPED WORLDWIDE FROM FOOTE'S WAREHOUSE IN MINA. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Comment (Location): INFO FROM LAND.ST :1972

Comment (Commodity): UNKNOWN FORM OF LI IN BRINES. HECTORITE (A LI-BEARING MONTMORILLONITE).

Comment (Workings): EVAPORATION PONDS. BRINES ARE PUMPED THROUGH ABOUT 15 WELLS FROM DEPTHS OF 300-700 FT IN VALLEY FILL. BRINES ARE PASSED THROUGH A SERIES OF EVAPORATING TANKS, UPGRADING CONCENTRATION TO 6000 TO 10,000 PPM.

Comment (Geology): MOST LIKELY SOURCE OF LI IS FROM SPRINGS UNDER THE VALLEY AND AT THE MARGIN OF THE PLAYA, WHICH CONTAIN ABOUT 40-50 PPM LI. ALSO, POSSIBLE VOLCANIC SOURCE FROM LEACHING OF MARLS AND TUFFS ANOMALOUS IN LI. HOSTED IN VALLEY FILL; UNCONSOLIDATED SEDIMENTS-MOSTLY CLAYS INCLUDING HECTORITE.

Comment (Development): FOOTE OPERATES SOLAR EVAPORATION PONDS AND A LITHIUM CARBONATE PLANT AT SILVER PEAK. PRODUCT SHIPPED IS A WHITE LITHIUM CARBONATE POWDER. EXPLORATION FOR LITHIUM BEGAN IN 1960 BY LEPRECHAUN MINING AND CHEMICAL CO., CONTINUED BY FOOTE MINERAL CO. WHEN THEY TOOK OVER IN 1964 LITHIUM HAS BEEN PRODUCED SINCE 1966. PRODUCING AREA COVERS APPROX. 3 SQUARE MILES. THE NUMBER OF PRODUCING WELLS AND ACREAGE OF EVAPORATING PONDS HAS INCREASED STEADILY SINCE 1966. BRINE IS CONCENTRATED FROM AN AVERAGE OF ABOUT 300 PPM TO ABOUT 6000 PPM LI BY SOLAR EVAPORATION IN A SERIES OF SHALLOW PONDS COVERING NEARLY 5000 ACRES. ABOUT A YEAR IS REQUIRED TO CONCENTRATE THE BRINE FROM 300 TO 6000 PPM LI. IN THE PROCESSING PLANT, MINOR IMPURITIES ARE REMOVED AND SODA ASH IS ADDED TO PRECIPITATE NEARLY PURE LITHIUM CARBONATE, WHICH IS DRIED, PELLETIZED AND TRUCKED 56 MILES TO RAILWAY.

References

Reference (Production): PAPKE, K.G., 1976, P. 29-31

Reference (Deposit): DOLE, R.B., 1973, USGS BULL 530, P. 330-345.

Reference (Deposit): CANNON, H.L., HARMS, T.F. AND HAMILTON, J.C., (1975) LITHIUM IN UNCONSOLIDATED SEDIMENTS AND PLANTS OF THE BASIN AND RANGE PROVINCE, SO. CALIF. AND NEVADA: USGS PP 918, 23 P.

Reference (Deposit): NEVADA MINING ASSOCIATION BULLETIN, JUNE, 1981.

Reference (Deposit): KUNASZ, I.A., 1974, LITHIUM OCCURRENCE IN THE BRINES OF CLAYTON VALLEY, ESMERALDA COUNTY, NV, IN FOURTH SYMPOSIUM ON SALT: NORTHERN OHIO GEOL. SOC., INC., CLEVELAND, OHIO; P. 57-66.

Reference (Deposit): KUNASZ, I.A., 1970, GEOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY OF THE LITHIUM DEPOSIT IN CLAYTON VALLEY, ESMERALDA COUNTY, NEVADA: PHD. THESIS, PENN. STATE UNIV, 114 P.

Reference (Deposit): PAPKE, K.G., 1976, NBMG BULL 87, P. 29-31

Reference (Deposit): ALBERS, J.P. AND STEWART, J.H., 1972, NBMG BULL 78 P. 58

Nevada Gold

Nevada has a total of 368 distinct gold districts. Of the of those, just 36 are major producers with production and/or reserves of over 1,000,000 ounces, 49 have production and/or reserves of over 100,000 ounces, with the rest having less than 100,000 ounces. Read more: Gold Districts of Nevada.