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Lithium-rich claystone in Pingguo area, Guangxi, southwest China: precursor kaolinite controls lithium enrichment

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Abstract

We investigated Late Permian Li-rich claystones with up to 1.05 wt% Li2O (average: 0.45 wt% Li2O) in the Pingguo area in Guangxi, southwest China. Our results show that cookeite (chlorite group) is the dominant Li-bearing mineral. Cookeite is intercalated with authigenic illite and detrital kaolinite, which suggests that cookeite formed during burial diagenesis from pre-existing Li-rich kaolinite in the original clay assemblage. The Li-rich claystones were mainly sourced from felsic volcanic rocks of the Emeishan large igneous province (LIP), and the Li-rich kaolinite was likely produced by weathering of felsic volcanic materials (i.e., pyroclastic rocks, tephras, and volcanic glass) deposited on a Permian carbonate platform. We propose that the abundance of precursor kaolinite and its Li content control the degree of Li enrichment in this new potential Li resource.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. Hongping He, Dr. Wenjun Hu, and Dr. Shanling Fu for their valuable advice.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 92162214, 92062107, U1812402), the National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFC2903402), the Key R&D Program of Yunan Province (grant 202103AQ100003), and the Guizhou Provincial Science and Technology Project (ZK[2021] key program 046).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550081, China

    Kunyue Ling, Tao Han, Zhitong Lu, Chongguang Luo & Wenbin Yu

  2. School of Earth Science and Resources, Chang’an University, Xi’an, 710054, China

    Hanjie Wen

  3. College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Hanjie Wen

  4. State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Resources and Environment, East China University of Technology, Nanchang, 330013, China

    Yi Cui

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  1. Kunyue Ling
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Ling, K., Wen, H., Han, T. et al. Lithium-rich claystone in Pingguo area, Guangxi, southwest China: precursor kaolinite controls lithium enrichment. Miner Deposita 59, 329–340 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-023-01210-x

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