MGX Minerals Inc. (MGX or the company) has successfully extracted lithium from heavy oil wastewater. Results are part of the ongoing optimisation for completion and deployment of a pilot plant in support of its 487 000 hectare Alberta lithium project. The company owns a patent pending process (United States Provisional Patent #62/419,011) for the extraction of lithium and other valuable minerals from oil brine. This technology is the first of its kind, reducing production time of lithium from brine by 99% compared with conventional lithium brine production times that use solar evaporation. Process time is reduced from approximately 18 months to one day using MGX's process. Heavy oil evaporator blowdown wastewater (EBD) is one of the byproducts of steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) during production of heavy oil. EBD was specifically targeted as the wastewater contains mid-level concentrations of lithium and has the potential to generate high environmental revenue based on current disposal costs. MGX and PurLucid Treatment Solutions (PurLucid) are working to integrate their respective technologies and develop a pilot plant suitable for commercial use that will treat EBD to provide oil sand producers with additional environmentally friendly disposal options, as well as recover valuable minerals such as lithium. As reported by Dr. Preston McEachern of PurLucid: Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/refining/04012017/mgx-minerals-extracts-lithium-from-oil-wastewater/ In this webinar, Dynamics Scientific will discuss their COMPACS System, which allows you to achieve optimal reliability through real-time monitoring of vibration as well as other parameters. Register for free today » The April issue of Hydrocarbon Engineering is now available online! Embed article link: (copy the HTML code below):
Canadian mining company MGX Minerals has successfully extracted lithium from heavy oil wastewater, with plans to optimise the process for pilot plant deployment. The technology is the first of its kind to extract lithium from oil brine, resulting in a 99% reduction in production time in comparison to solar evaporation processes. Heavy oil evaporator blowdown wastewater (EBD) is a byproduct of the heavy oil production process, which contains valuable minerals. The pilot plant will treat EBD to offer environmentally friendly disposal methods and to produce lithium for oil sand producers.