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Salar De Empexa

Producer in Potosi, Bolivia with commodities Boron-Borates, Bromine, Gypsum-Anhydrite, Halite, Lithium
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Ore body information
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Land status
  13. Ownership information
  14. Links to other databases
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. General comments
  17. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10005869
MRDS ID BL10041
Record type Site
Current site name Salar De Empexa

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -68.47534, -20.32703 (WGS84)
Elevation 3717
Relative position SOUTHERN SHORE IS JUST NORTH OF ABRA DE NAPA AND EL DESIERTO.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Potosi(province)

Bolivia(country)

South America(continent)

Land(continent)

Federal lands

Federal(land status)

Geographic areas

Country State
Bolivia Potosi

Comments on the location information

  • GEODETIC COORDINATES ARE FOR APPROXIMATE CENTER OF THE LI-BRINE BEARING SALITRE DEPOSIT IN UPPER PART OF THE SALAR.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Boron-Borates Primary
Bromine Primary
Gypsum-Anhydrite Primary
Halite Primary
Lithium Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Brine Ore
Gypsum Ore
Halite Ore
Ulexite Ore
Calcite Gangue

Analytical data

Result SEDIMENT ANALYSES BY BALLIVIAN AND RISACHER (1981): LI 40 TO 185 PPM, K 150 TO 4000 PPM, B 10 TO 300 PPM. BRINE ANALYSES BY ERICKSEN ET. AL. (1977): 210 TO 580 PPM LI, 5.6 TO 7.9% NACL, 0.77 TO 2.0% K, 170 TO 260 PPM CA, 0.85 TO 2.3% MG, 16.2 TO 16.9% CL.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 267
USGS model code 35b.13 (35bm)
Deposit model name Lithium-rich playa brines

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Clay, Mud

Nearby scientific data

(1) -68.47534, -20.32703
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Depth to top 0M

Comments on the geologic information

  • SALAR SURFACE IS COMMONLY ANNUALLY FLOODED. THERMAL SPRINGS IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF THE SALAR ARE ONLY SLIGHTLY SALINE WITH DENSITIES NEAR 1. AND TEMPERATURES OF 13-24 DEG. C. OTHER SPRINGS WITHIN THE DRAINAGE BASIN ARE BOILING AND HAVE VARIABLE CHEMISTRY.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Both
Significant No
Year of first production 1900
Year of last production 1941

Land status

Ownership category Federal

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Cia Minera Tierra
    First year 1993

Comments on the workings information

  • ULEXITE MINED BY TRACTOR.

Comments on development

  • SOME 70 EXPLORATION WELLS DRILLED BY GEOBOL IN EARLY 1960'S FOR BORATES IN THE CENTER OF THE SALAR. NO BORATES WERE ENCOUNTERED. KNOWN BORATE DEPOSITS (LAQUECA, ISTMA) OCCUR ON THE MARGINS OF THE SALAR.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    ERICKSEN, G.E., VINE, J.D., AND BALLON, R., 1978, CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND DISTRIBUTION OF LITHIUM-RICH BRINES IN SALAR DE UYUNI AND NEARBY SALARS IN SOUTHWESTERN BOLIVIA: ENERGY, V. 3, P. 355-363.

  • Deposit

    CADIMA, J., AND LAFUENTE, F., 1969, PROSPECCION GENERAL DE ALGUNAS BORATERAS PARTICULARES: SERVICIO GEOLOGICO DE BOLIVIA INFORME GB-M-647

  • Deposit

    BALLIVIAN, O., AND RISACHER, F., 1981, LOS SALARES DEL ALTIPLANO DE BOLIVIA; METODOS DE ESTUDIO Y EVALUACION ECONOMICA: PARIS, OFFICE DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE ET TECHNIQUE OUTRE-MER, 246P.

  • Deposit

    ERICKSEN, G.E., VINE, J.D., AND BALLON A., R., 1977, LITHIUM-RICH BRINES AT SALAR DE UYUNI AND NEARBY SALARS IN SOUTHWESTERN BOLIVIA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OPEN-FILE REPORT 77-615, 47P.

  • Deposit

    RISACHER, F., AND MIRANDA, J., 1976, INDICIOS DE INTERES ECONOMICO EN LOS SALARES DEL SUD LIPEZ: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA, UNIVERSIDAD MAYOR DE SAN ANDRES - L'OFFICE DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE ET TECHNIQUE OUTRE-MER INFORME, 8 P.

  • Deposit

    ROSKILL INFORMATION SERVICES LTD., 1993, THE ECONOMICS OF BORON, 7TH ED.: LONDON, ROSKILL INFORMATION SERVICES LTD., 156 P.

  • Deposit

    GEOLOGIC EVALUATION BY BALLIVIAN AND RISACHER (1981)

  • Deposit

    GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE BY ERICKSEN ET. AL. (1978)

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit LI-SALITRE IS IN THE N PART OF THE SALAR. INTERIOR HALITE CRUST IS GENERALLY MORE THAN 10 CM THICK.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-1990 Long, Keith R. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-AUG-1993 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey PARSED HOST ROCK AND ASSOCIATED ROCK INFORMATION FROM OLD SINGLE VALUED FIELD TO NEW MULTIVALUED FIELD
Editor 27-APR-1995 Mosier, Dan U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

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