1. Mineral Extraction:
Results from International
Conferences
R. Gordon Bloomquist, Ph.D.
Washington State University Energy Program, Retired
Konstantin O. Povarov, Ph.D.
Association Geothermal Energy Society, Russian Federation
Geothermal Resources Council
Reno, Nevada
October 5-8, 2008
2. The first International Mineral Extraction
from Geothermal Brines Conference and
Road Mapping Session was convened in
Petropavalovsk, Kamchatka, Russia
in 2005.
4. Sponsors included:
• International Geothermal Association
• Association of Geothermal Energy
Society of Russia
• World Bank / Global Environmental Facility
• Kamchatka Scientific Center /
Russian Academy of Science
• United States Department of Energy
5. But why a conference and road mapping
workshop devoted to mineral extraction??
1. To discuss the state of mineral extraction
research and development
6. 2. To determine issues critical to
commercializing mineral extraction as an
economically valuable component of the
geothermal industry.
7. 3. To help coordinate the exchange of
research results and provide an
opportunity for researchers to compare
recent research activities and results and
hopefully find areas for collaboration.
A pdf abstract can be found at
www.gesa.ru/eng/seminars.asp.
8. Based on the success of
the first Mineral Extraction
Conference and Workshop,
a second was convened
at the University of Arizona
in the fall of 2006.
Sponsors included:
• World Bank / Global Environmental Facility
• International Geothermal Association
• United States Department of Energy
9. The Russian Geothermal Society has now
assembled all of the papers and they are
now available on the web at
www.geotherm.ru/pub/.
Included are papers on:
• Silica scaling and treatment
• Extraction of minerals such as Lithium,
Manganese, Zinc and Rare Earths
• Economics, etc.
10. Based on the two Road Mapping workshops,
the following issues were prioritized into the
following six focus areas:
1. Silica
2. Technology Developments
3. Market
4. Technology Transfer
5. Financing
6. Environment
11. But why should you be interested in
Mineral Extraction??
12. In order for enhance evaporative cooling
to be employed a clean source of water
is required.
Mammoth Pacific
operators are testing
reverse osmosis as
a way to remove
silica so that the
geothermal brine
can be used for this
cooling system.
13. Silica
1. Is the cause of
operation and
maintenance
problems
2. Restricts energy
extraction and thus
lowers economic
output per unit of
fluid extracted
14. Silica (Continued)
3. Prevents the use of geothermal fluids for
use in cooling binary plants
4. Interferes with the extraction of other
economically valuable minerals
15. Studies by Brookhaven National
Laboratory estimate that removal of
silica would have an economic
benefit equivalent to reducing the cost of
power by approximately 1.1 cents per
kWh.
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY
16. Economic benefits are derived from the sale
of silica produced coupled with a reduction
in operation and maintenance costs.
17. The world-wide demand for silica is over
3 million kilograms of commercial grade
silica per day.
Powdered silica
18. Specific uses include:
• Drying and anti-caking agents in
human and animal food.
• Abrasives in sandpaper and for use
in silicon wafer-polishing.
• Filler in plastics, paper, paint and rubber tires.
• Fiber optics and catalyst
manufacture.
• Feed stock for making
semiconductor silicon, fine
chemicals, and
chromatographic silica. Semiconductor chip
19. Silica prices vary from $1.00/kilogram
for use in tires and pesticides,
$2.00 - 4.00/kilogram for use
in paints and to as high as
$7.00/gram
when used in
high-pressure
liquid
chromatography.
Prices increased up
to 20% in July 2008.
20. Benefits calculated by Brookhaven do
not include increased power produced
per unit of fluid produced or the value of
wet cooling for binary plants.
21. Other potential economic benefits come
from the extraction and and sale of:
• Lithium
• Manganese
• Zinc
• Cesium
• Rubidium
• Rare Earths
• Precious Metals
22. Lithium
Used in batteries and increasingly
in batteries for hybrid cars.
$350 million-per-year market.
Geothermal could meet
the world demand.
Lithium battery
23. Manganese
Electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD)
is used in dry cell batteries.
50 MWe geothermal plant in Salton Sea
field could generate $48 million dollars.
The 2008 value of
Manganese was
$3,975 / ton.
Dry cell batteries
24. Zinc
First commercial plant was estimated to
have potential for year revenue of
$40 million.
Zinc’s 2008* price
was $78.65/kilogram.
Special High Grade (SHG)
Zinc was going for
$1,646.50 per ton.
* Prices as of October 2, 2008.
Current pennies are 2.5%
copper and 97.5% zinc.
25. Cesium
Some applications:
• High-density competent in drilling mud
• Television and night vision equipment
• Solar cells
• Removal of sulfur
from crude oil
• Medical and cancer
applications
• Specialty glass and
fiber optics
Solar cell
26. Cesium
The market equals 25,000+ kilograms
per year.
The 2006 price for 99.98% Cesium was
$52 per metric ton.
27. Rubidium
A number of important applications:
• Used in specialty glasses used in
fiber optic telecommunication systems
• Ultra centrifugal separation of
nuclear acids and viruses
• Night vision devices
• Photoelectric cells
• Cancer treatments
• Atomic clocks
Night vision goggles
28. Rubidium
The market equals 1 to 2 metric tons
per year.
The 2006 price for 99.98% Rubidium
was as high as $79.90 per gram when
purchased in small lots.
29. Rare Earths
These elements and metals are a
collection of seventeen chemical
elements:
• Scandium
• Yttrium
• And the fifteen lanthanoids
(atomic numbers 57 to 71).
30. Rare earth elements are incorporated
into many modern technological
devices, including:
• Superconductors
• Miniaturized magnets
• Electronic polishers
• Refining catalysts
• Hybrid car components
Superconductor
31. Rare earth ions are used as the active
ions in luminescent materials used in
optoelectronics applications, most
notably the Nd:YAG laser.
Phosphors with rare
earth dopants are also
widely used in cathode
ray tube technology
such as television sets.
From Wikipedia
Nd:YAG (Ytterium) laser
32. Precious metals, such as gold, silver,
platinum, and palladium
In today’s volatile economic market,
these metals are seeing record prices:*
• Gold: $831.90 / ounce
• Silver: $10.79 / ounce
• Platinum: $965.00 / ounce
• Palladium: $193.00 / ounce
* Prices as of October 2, 2008
Gold jewelry and
silver dollar
33. Not only are these metals often
available in significant quantities in
geothermal brine, they provide a new
and important source of such mineral
produced through solution mining in an
environmentally responsible manner.
34. Mineral extraction really does deserve
renewed and focused attention, but only if
you are interested in:
• A reduction in operation and
maintenance costs;
• Increased power production per unit
of fluid produced; …
35. • A source of economically salable
by products; and
• A greater opportunity for water
cooling of binary plants.
