Recovery of lithium from spodumene-bearing pegmatites: A comprehensive review on geological reserves, beneficiation, and extraction

The demand for lithium has increased enormously for its application in the energy sector. Pegmatites constitute the second major lithium resource. Spodumene is the key lithium-bearing mineral hosted by pegmatites. The present article comprehensively recapitulates the research investigations and plant practices on various techniques of lithium recovery from pegmatites, other than covering geological occurrences of the spodumene-bearing pegmatites across the globe. The beneficiation of spodumene using Dense Media Separation (DMS) and froth flotation, the most widely adopted techniques, have been appraised. The application of magnetic separation and ore sorting techniques in the processing of spodumene has also been deliberated. The beneficiated spodumene concentrate requires further treatment with or without the application of heat in the presence of acidic or alkaline media to generate lithium-based salts in marketable form. Hence, the different types of pyro and hydrometallurgical routes adopted for the processing of spodumene have been reviewed thoroughly.