Salar De Coipasa

Producer in Oruro, Bolivia with commodities Bromine, Halite, Boron-Borates, Lithium, Potassium, Diatomite, Gypsum-Anhydrite
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. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10086922
MRDS ID BL10040
Record type Site
Current site name Salar De Coipasa
Alternate or previous names Boratera De Sabaya

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -68.13283, -19.36428 (WGS84)
Elevation 3657
Relative position AT COIPASA.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Oruro(province)

Bolivia(country)

South America(continent)

Land(continent)

Federal lands

Federal(land status)

Geographic areas

Country State
Bolivia Oruro
Bolivia Oruro

Commodities

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

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Halite Ore
Ulexite Ore
Clay Gangue
Diatomite Gangue
Gypsum Gangue

Analytical data

Result BRINE ANALYSES BY ERICKSEN ET. AL. (1978): LI 210 TO 580 PPM, K 7,700 TO 20,000 PPM K. BRINE ANALYSES BY RETTIG ET AL (1980): PH 6.97 TO 7.37
Result DENSITY 1.223 TO 1.247 G/CM3
Result HCO3 642 TO 922 MG/KG
Result SO4 20,100 TO 33,300 MG/KG
Result CL 150,000 TO 152,000 MG/KG
Result F 19 TO 30 MG/KG, BR 88 TO 221 MG/KG
Result CA 67 TO 207 MG/KG
Result MG 8,990 TO 21,800 MG/KG
Result NA 59,600 TO 83,500 MG/KG
Result K 7,140 TO 18,300 MG/KG
Result SR 14 TO 18 MG/KG
Result LI 251 TO 524 MG/KG
Result B 497 TO 1,300 MG/KG
Result PO4 6.1 TO 13 MG/KG
Result SIO2 4.9 TO 20 MG/KG.

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) -68.13283, -19.36428

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Depth to top 0M

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1976
Discoverer U.S. Geological Survey/Servicio Geologico De Bolivia

Land status

Ownership category Federal

Comments on the workings information

  • HALITE MINES ON NW SIDE OF SALAR. BORATES MAY HAVE BEEN MINED IN THE PAST.

Comments on development

  • FAVORABILITY FOR LITHIUM ACCUMULATIONS IDENTIFIED BY ERICKSEN ET AL (1976), CONFIRMED BY FIELD WORK IN 1976.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SALAR IS 2,000 SQUARE KM IN AREA WITH A SALT CRUST OF 0.5 M THICKNESS. SALT CRUST CONSISTS OF HALITE IN THE INTERIOR OF THE LAKE WITH A MARGIN OF CLAY-GYPSUM-ULEXITE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-1990 Long, Keith R. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 27-APR-1995 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey PARSED HOST ROCK AND ASSOCIATED ROCK INFORMATION FROM OLD SINGLE VALUED FIELD TO NEW MULTIVALUED FIELD
Editor 04-JUL-1995 Mosier, Dan U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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