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

• Published in: Mineralium deposita Vol. 59; no. 2; pp. 329 - 340
• Main Authors: Ling, Kunyue, Wen, Hanjie, Han, Tao, Lu, Zhitong, Cui, Yi, Luo, Chongguang, Yu, Wenbin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.02.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Carbonates; Chlorite; Clay; Clay minerals; Diagenesis; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Geochemistry; Geology; Illite; Illites; Kaolinite; Lithium; Lithium oxides; Mineral Resources; Mineralogy; Minerals; Permian; Platforms (geology); Precursors; Rocks; Scanning electron microscopy; Volcanic glass; Volcanic rocks; Lithium-rich claystone; Cookeite; Clay transformation; Li resource
• ISSN: 0026-4598; 1432-1866
• DOI: 10.1007/s00126-023-01210-x

We investigated Late Permian Li-rich claystones with up to 1.05 wt% Li 2 O (average: 0.45 wt% Li 2 O) 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.