Monthly Archives: April 2021

Lithium

Not a new article but interesting none the less.

Where Will All the Lithium Needed for Electric Cars Be Mined?

https://www.thermofisher.com/blog/mining/where-will-all-the-lithium-needed-for-electric-cars-be-mined/?icid=CAD_blog_mining_2020Dec

Where Will All the Lithium Needed for Electric Cars Be Mined?
By Tim Nunney
04.07.2016

“Many commodity prices are in a slump, but lithium prices are on the rise, driven by the growing demand for lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries to supply the electric car market. Tesla plans to produce 500,000 battery-powered vehicles per year by 2020, with batteries supplied by the company’s 13.6 million square foot “gigafactory” which, once completed, will be the world’s second largest building by volume. Tesla may be the most well known electric car manufacturer thanks to the publicity surrounding the gigafactory, but Apple, Google, and Faraday Future are also getting into the electric car market. According to an article on oilprice.com, Apple will be competing directly with Tesla with its own electric car which is expected to be available in 2019, while the start-up Faraday Future is planning a new $1-billion factory in Las Vegas, and is hoping to produce its first car next year. And all these battery factories will demand an estimated 100,000 tons of new lithium carbonate by 2021.

Where will all the lithium come from? Lithium is a poorly concentrated mineral, so traditional hard-rock mining of lithium-bearing pegmatite and spodumene is a costly and time-intensive endeavor. The easiest and least expensive method of obtaining lithium is by the evaporation of highly concentrated lithium brine. Read Lithium Mining Today May Influence What You Drive In the Future to learn more about the brining and hard rock mining methods of obtaining lithium.

North America has only one lithium mine, the Albermarle Silver Peak Mine, and only one U.S. company is currently producing lithium from brine. Most of the world’s lithium comes from brine operations in Chile and a spodumene operation in Australia. China and Argentina are also major lithium producers. Establishing a reliable, diversified supply of lithium is a top priority for technology companies in the United States and Asia, particularly battery suppliers and vehicle manufacturers, and numerous lithium claims have been leased or staked worldwide. Brine operations are under development in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and the United States; spodumene mining operations are under development in Australia, Canada, China, and Finland; a jadarite mining operation is under development in Serbia; and a lithium clay-mining operation is under development in Mexico. (More data available from the U.S. Geological Survey’s 2016 Lithium Mineral Commodity Summary.)

But just because the electric car market is poised to take off doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement in the performance of Li-ion cells, for example to increase energy density, reduce weight, decrease costs, and improve recharge times. Understanding the solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer on the electrodes, which is created as the cell charges and discharges, is an area of significant interest, so that it can be controlled and therefore improve cell performance. XPS depth profiling offers a way of chemically characterizing the complex mix that makes up the interphase layer, allowing an identification of the chemistries that comprise the SEI.”

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Dust Monitoring Equipment – providing equipment, services and training in dust fallout management to the mining industry.

Nvirobuild

NVIROBUILD

WHAT WE DO
WE PRIMARILY FOCUS ON REHABILITATION OF PROSPECTING SITES IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Our experience in all aspects of mining, combined with our expertise of local requirements, render us the partner of choice for extensive rehabilitation projects.

We specialise in environmental rehabilitation of mining and exploration sites, along with bioremediation and water treatment for various contaminations.

Nvirobuild also stock environmental products and offer a turnkey zero waste to landfill solution.

With our range of bacterial applications, we offer environmentally friendly solutions to previously costly and complicated projects.

Our civil department enables us to be the perfect contractor for constructing and managing waste facilities on site.

Nvirobuild

SERVICES
NVIROBUILD IS ABLE TO ADDRESS ALL ASPECTS OF REHABILITATION PRACTICE FROM PRE-DISTURBANCE TO FINAL RELINQUISHMENT, INCLUDING ON GROUND WORKS AT ANY SCALE.

We provide the following rehabilitation services to enable successful rehabilitation outcomes:

REHABILITATION
As our primary business is ecological rehabilitation, we are focusing to ensure we deliver the best possible solution for every individual project. Nvirobuild ensures that maintenance on the sites is done up to the point of sign off by the DMR or the client. Nvirobuild also ensures successful rehabilitation / demolition of old building structures and excavations.

CIVIL CONSTRUCTION
We are able to take on conveyors, workshops, crushers, office buildings, cement slabs etc. We will supply a quality product and give it off in time, our Civil department combined with our Environmental department can provide a unique solution for client.

ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT SUPPLY
Contact us for a quotation on Oil Spill Kits and all relevant absorbents and products used in workshops, offices. Nvirobuild manufactures a ready to use Bioremediation mix, this mix is ready for use as is. We use the product in our own bioremediation process and achieves great success with it.

STEEL CONSTRUCTION
We can do steel construction on any scale.

Portfolio – https://www.nvirobuild.co.za/nvirobuild-projects/

 

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Dust Monitoring Equipment – providing equipment, services and training in dust fallout management to the mining industry.

Massive eruption at Soufriere St. Vincent

A volcano that has been dormant for 42 years has erupted on Soufriere St. Vincent.  To see the images, please follow the link to the source of the article.

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https://watchers.news/2021/04/13/new-massive-eruption-at-soufriere-st-vincent-so2-emissions-spreading-over-two-continents/

Massive eruption at Soufriere St. Vincent
Image credit: CDEMA. Acquired: April 13, 2021

New massive eruption at Soufriere St. Vincent, SO2 emissions spreading over two continents

Posted by Teo Blašković on April 13, 2021

“A new high-level, major eruption took place at Soufriere St. Vincent volcano at 10:40 UTC on April 13, 2021. The SO2 emissions produced over the past 2 days are now spreading over two continents — South America and Africa. Extremely heavy ash is covering the island of St. Vincent, leaving the nation without electricity.

The pattern of seismicity changed again, with the end of the episodes of high-amplitude tremor 2 to 8 hours apart, the University of West Indies Seismic Research Center (UWI-SRC) said early April 13, 2021.

Three episodes of tremor have been recorded since 06:00 LT on April 13, 2 of them with lower-amplitude, and the third, at about 17:00 LT, was high-amplitude. The episodes continue to coincide with periods of enhanced venting or explosive activity.

Observations indicate that pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) had descended several valleys on the southern and western flanks of the volcano and had reached the sea at Morne Ronde, Larikai, and Trois Loupes Bay.

Extensive damage to vegetation was noted in an area extending from Larikai Bay to Turner Bay on the west coast. No other areas along the coast had been affected by PDCs but villages located on the eastern flank of the volcano had been affected by heavy ashfall.

Explosions and accompanying ashfall, of similar or larger magnitude, are likely to continue to occur over the next few days with the chance of PDCs occurring, UWI-SRC warned just hours before another massive eruption at 10:40 UTC today:

Today’s eruption came on the volcano’s 42nd anniversary of the VEI3 1979 eruption.

A massive explosion and new pyroclastic flows were produced at 08:15 UTC on April 12, with ash cloud reaching approximately 17 km (55 000 feet) above sea level.

Extremely heavy ash has covered the island of St. Vincent since the explosive eruptions began on Friday, April 9, leaving the majority of St. Vincent and the Grenadines without power on April 11, 2021.

New observations show changes to the summit crater with a possible smaller vent inside the new crater.

The black/dark areas to the west (left) of the summit are the pyroclastic flow deposits from earlier explosive events.

Geological summary
Soufrière St. Vincent is the northernmost and youngest volcano on St. Vincent Island. The NE rim of the 1.6 km (1 mile) wide summit crater is cut by a crater formed in 1812.

The crater itself lies on the SW margin of a larger 2.2 km (1.3 miles) wide Somma crater, which is breached widely to the SW as a result of slope failure.

Frequent explosive eruptions since about 4 300 years ago produced pyroclastic deposits of the Yellow Tephra Formation, which blanket much of the island.

The first historical eruption took place in 1718; it and the 1812 eruption produced major explosions.

Much of the northern end of the island was devastated by a major eruption in 1902 that coincided with the catastrophic Mont Pelée eruption on Martinique.

A lava dome was emplaced in the summit crater in 1971 during a strictly effusive eruption, forming an island in a lake that filled the crater prior to an eruption in 1979.

The lake was then largely ejected during a series of explosive eruptions, and the dome was replaced with another. (GVP)”

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Dust Monitoring Equipment – providing equipment, services and training in dust fallout management to the mining industry.

Mountain Research LLC

DUSTWATCH PARTNERS WITH MOUNTAIN RESEARCH LLC IN THE USA

DustWatch has partnered with Mountain Research, LLC in the USA. DustWatch single bucket ASTM D1739 (2017) units will be manufactured in the USA for distribution purposes within the USA and other countries.

Mountain Research LLC

Mountain Research, LLC (Mountain Research) is a full service turnkey environmental and drilling services corporation founded in 1985. DustWatch is excited to partner with Mountain Research, please visit their website for more information http://www.mountainresearch.com.

If you need to make use of the expertise from Mountain Research in South Africa, then you can contact chris@dustwatch.com

Mountain Research

MORE ABOUT MOUNTAIN RESEARCH:

Drilling Services
Mountain Research offers the latest technology in environmental and geotechnical drilling services for site investigation, remediation, foundation design and construction. Our drilling rigs include a Geoprobe® Model 6600 and a Geoprobe® Model 5400. We recently added an Acker® Soil-Scout, increasing the capabilities of our fleet.

Mountain Research also uses a ChemGrout® Model CG555 multi-purpose grouting machine for monitoring well abandonment in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements.

Mountain Research’s drilling personnel hold certifications for states within the Mid-Atlantic region for drilling and installation of monitoring wells. All drilling personnel and inspectors meet the requirements set forth by OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120 and have completed the required 40 hour OSHA health and safety course.

Environmental Consulting
Mountain Research provides a wide variety of environmental and engineering services in-house, including owning our own drill rigs and environmental laboratories supported by our team of professional geologists, professional engineers, environmental scientists and chemists.

Our employees perform Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments, Site Characterizations, Act 2 Closures, Remediation System Construction, Installations, Operation and Maintenance, Underground Storage Tank Services, Air Quality Assessments, Spill Response and Engineering Services throughout the states of Pennsylvania and the rest of the Mid-Atlantic region.

Our expertise is performing our services, quickly, quietly and cost effectively with an eye towards making sure projects are successfully concluded in the best interest of our clients.

 

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Dust Monitoring Equipment – providing equipment, services and training in dust fallout management to the mining industry.

 

CHRYSO Eco Dust

Chryso are suppliers of emulsified dust lubrication systems that aid in the coalescing, stablisation and suppression of rising dust particles and spores.

CHRYSO Eco Dust

LIGNO SULPHATE INFORMATION CHRYSO ECO DUST 200D
DustWatch can provide quotations for this product if required and also provide advice on optimized application for different area requirements. Gravel Roads, Haul Roads, Unpaved open areas, Stockpiles and Berms. On site advice is available for site specific requirements and optimization.

Chryso Eco Dust 200D

https://www.dustwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/chryso-eco-dust-brochure.pdf

ECO DUST SOLUTION
Chryso have a range of environmentally friendly products that can be used, and the recommended usage of one of these products, the ECO Dust 200 D, is shown below.

Products:
Eco Dust 200 D

Applications:
The following are typical areas where our product can be used:
Open exposed areas
Gravel roads
Farm roads
Gravel airstrips
Quarry roads
Stockpile dumps
Mine dumps

General Application Guidelines

1 litre of solution per m2 is used to apply the product to the area
Note that the 100% solution works well for sealing a stockpile or an exposed surface, provided the liquid can mix slightly with the top layer of material and be distributed evenly.
A 43% solution also works well to seal off a stockpile or open exposed area, but more quantity of solution is needed per area, but the same amount of product. So that concentration should depend on how much water is needed to make the product bind with the surface layer of the stockpile or exposed surface. Runoff of the product during application should be prevented.
The mixing with the top layer of the surface is required to keep it in place on a sloped surface, and also provides additional stabilisation as the top layer is less likely to slide down.
The use of the product on a road at any percentage requires the surface to be compacted to achieve the mixing with the top layer. Vehicles travelling regularly will achieve this. The smoother the road the better as this prevent pooling of the solution in parts of the road.
When vehicles travel on the road, the whole road should be used, to prevent the middle of the road not being compacted and resulting in loose material.
Planned roadways will enable the product to be used efficiently.
Walkways should also be clearly demarcated to enable exposed areas to remain undisturbed after the application of the product.
Application Method for Regular Maintenance to decrease road dust significantly

Four applications at 15% in one day and one application per day thereafter at 5% solution. Application rate of 1 litre of solution per m2.

Long term application. (30 days or more)

Application of 85% solution at 1 litre per m2. This is a once off application and can last up to 90 days.

Factors that will influence the intervals between maintenance applications and life time of the surface:

Quality of base material
Climate conditions
Volumes and type of traffic

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Dust Monitoring Equipment – providing equipment, services and training in dust fallout management to the mining industry.