Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: Geothermal fluids are potentially significant sources of valuable minerals and metals.These fluids are water that is heated by the natural heat flow from the depths of the earth.Hotter fluids, typically with temperatures greater than 120°C, are used to generate electricity.Lower temperature fluids are directly used to supply thermal energy to applications such as agriculture, aquaculture and space heating.The geothermal waters have had intimate and lengthy contact with the layers of the earth's crust that they flow through, resulting in dissolution of minerals and metals from the rocks, and solution into the hot water.These aqueous solutions can be processed to recover minerals and metals.Potential products include silica, zinc, lithium, and other materials.Recovery of minerals and metals from geothermal fluids can be viewed as "solution mining by nature", followed by application of established or new hydrometallurgical techniques for isolation and purification.This paper discusses the opportunities, the processes, the challenges, the current status, the economics and the potential for recovery of minerals and metals from geothermal fluids.
Authors: William L. Bourcier, M. Lin, G. A. Nix
Language: English
Subfield: Metals and Alloys
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1542110358