Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID WY_2023_62_Fan

Evaluation of Critical Minerals (CMs) Deposits, Mainly Lithium (Li) and Rare Earth Elements (REEs), in Wyoming as well as the Economic Viability of Mining These Resources

Institute: Wyoming
Year Established: 2023 Start Date: 2022-07-01 End Date: 2024-06-30
Total Federal Funds: $19,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $34,831

Principal Investigators: Maohong Fan

Project Summary: The proposed project is to assess the effects of non-CMs cations (e.g., Ca2+, Mg2+ and Fe3+) on extractions of CMs in Wyoming. Wyoming has a lot of brines from energy material production processes, representing huge amounts of CMs if the concentrations of the produced waters are adequately high and their separation costs are acceptable. One of the important factors affecting the CMs separation is the presence of the high-concentration non-CMs cations (e.g., Ca2+, Mg2+ and Fe3+), which could significantly increase the cost of CMs separation. Thus, evaluation of the effect of the extraction of non-CMs cations (e.g., Ca2+, Mg2+ and Fe3+) on extractions of CMs is necessary.