الوصف

Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate, and is a source of Lithium. It occurs as colorless to yellowish, purplish, or lilac kunzite (see below), yellowish-green or emerald-green hiddenite, prismatic crystals, often of great size. Single crystals of *4.3 m (*7 ft) in size are reported from the Black Hills of South Dakota, United States.

The naturally occurring low-temperature form spodumene is in the monoclinic system whereas the high-temperature β-spodumene crystallizes in the tetragonal system. α-spodumene converts to β-spodumene at temperatures above **0 °C. Crystals are typically heavily striated parallel to the principal axis. Crystal faces are often etched and pitted with triangular markings.
 

Spodumene is an important source of lithium, for use in ceramics, mobile phone and automotive batteries, medicine, Pyroceram and as a fluxing agent. As of ***9, around half of lithium is extracted from mineral ores, which mainly consist of spodumene. Lithium is extracted from spodumene by fusing in acid after roasting to convert it to the more reactive β-spodumene. The advantage of spodumene as a lithium source compared to brine sources is the higher lithium concentration, at the expense of a higher extraction cost.

In ***6, the price was forecast to be $*****0/ton. However, price spiked above $**0 in January ***8, and production increased more than consumption, reducing the price to $**0 in September ***0 but went back up to $***0/ton in ***2 and still going up sporadically.

World production of lithium via spodumene was around *0,**0 metric tonnes per annum in ***8, primarily from the Greenbushes pegmatite of Western Australia and from some Chinese and Chilean sources. The Talison mine in Greenbushes, Western Australia, is reported to be the 2nd largest and to have the highest grade of ore at 2.4% Li₂O (***2 figures).
Nigeria is another country with the highest grade ranging from 3% to *0% or more

In ***0, Australia expanded spodumene mining to become the leading lithium producing country in the world.

Extraction of lithium from spodumene is challenging due to the tight binding of lithium in the crystal structure. Processing methods rely on roasting at high temperature with various reagents. At temperatures in excess of **0 °C (1,**0 °F), the spodumene is converted from the alpha structure to a more open beta structure from which the lithium is more easily extracted by the reagents. Suitable extraction reagents include alkali metal sulfates, such as sodium sulfate; sodium carbonate; chlorine; or hydrofluoric acid.