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Foote Lithium Brine Operation.

Producer in Esmeralda county in Nevada, United States with commodity Lithium
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Land status
  16. Ownership information
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10047125
MRDS ID M242375
Record type Site
Current site name Foote Lithium Brine Operation.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -117.5912, 37.75855 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 1000(meters)
Relative position IN CLAYTON VALLEY EAST OF TOWN OF SILVER PEAK., Utm Is To Approx Center Of The Brine Fields Which Cover 3 Sq. Mi.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Esmeralda(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Goat Island(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Goldfield(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Goldfield(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Ralston-Stone Cabin Valleys(hydrologic unit)

Central Nevada Desert Basins(hydrologic accounting unit)

Central Nevada Desert Basins(hydrologic subregion)

Great Basin(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Esmeralda

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 002S;002S 039E;040E 13,23,24;18,19,17,20 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • INFO FROM LAND.ST :1972

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Lithium Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • UNKNOWN FORM OF LI IN BRINES. HECTORITE (A LI-BEARING MONTMORILLONITE).

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Hectorite Ore

Analytical data

Result 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

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene

Nearby scientific data

(1) -117.5912, 37.75855
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Faults Cutting Li-Anomalous Volcanics Act As Conduits For Li-Rich Fluids

Ore body information

  • General form BEDDED
    Depth to top 9.14M
    Depth to bottom 365.76M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Basin, Both Structural And Topographic.

Comments on the geologic information

  • 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.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant No
Year of first production 1965
Year of last production 1982

Mining district

District name Silver Peak Marsh (Clayton Valley) District

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Foote Mineral Co., Silver Peak, Nv: George Kazonich, Operations Manager
    First year 1982

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • KUNASZ, 1975, P. 796.

Comments on the workings information

  • 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.

Comments on 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.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    ALBERS, J.P. AND STEWART, J.H., 1972, NBMG BULL 78 P. 58

  • Deposit

    PAPKE, K.G., 1976, NBMG BULL 87, P. 29-31

  • 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.

  • Deposit

    NEVADA MINING ASSOCIATION BULLETIN, JUNE, 1981.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Deposit

    DOLE, R.B., 1973, USGS BULL 530, P. 330-345.

  • Production

    PAPKE, K.G., 1976, P. 29-31

General comments

Subject category Comment text
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
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.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-82 La Pointe, D.D. (Tingley, J.V.) Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology

Beyond USGS

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

External references

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Nevada resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.