Study of lithium exploitation from carbonate subtype and sulfate type salt-lakes of Tibet

•A novel process was developed to extract lithium from Tibet salt-lakes.•Carbonate enriched brine was prepared via freezing and evaporating of carbonate type brine.•Lithium enriched brine was obtained by mixing sulfate-type brine and frozen carbonate-type brine.•Lithium carbonate with high purity and lithium yield was precipitated by mixing brines at room temperature.

A novel process for extracting lithium from carbonate subtype and sulfate type salt-lakes of Tibet by making full use of local resources and energy was developed. In this research, we extract lithium from carbonate subtype and sulfate type salt-lakes of Tibet through following three steps: carbonate enriched brine was prepared via freezing and evaporating of carbonate type brine (CO32 − content is 60.76 g/L); lithium enriched brine was obtained by mixing sulfate-type brine and frozen carbonate-type brine (Li+ content is 12.56 g/L); and lithium carbonate with a purity of 97.49% and a lithium yield of 54.85% was precipitated by mixing the lithium enriched brine and carbonate enriched brine.

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