Please be invited to our next webinar on:
Prospecting for geothermal Lithium in the North German Basin
Lithium production has increased tenfold over the past two decades, and steady growth is expected to continue. Since Germany has no conventional lithium resources, it relies on imports. Consequently, alternative (re)sources of lithium have been investigated, including the recovery of lithium from geothermal brines in the Upper Rhine Graben. Additionally, elevated lithium concentrations have also been reported in other regions, including the North German Basin (NGB). This webinar will summarize data on the NGB, focusing on identifying potential lithium deposits.
The highest concentrations are found in the Permian Rotliegend and Zechstein Ca2 formations at the former basin margin. Lithium concentrations can locally reach 600 mg/L in the Rotliegend formation and 300 mg/L in the Zechstein formation. Elevated lithium concentrations have also been reported in the overlying Triassic Buntsandstein formations, which are widespread across the basin. Here, lithium concentrations of up to 200 mg/L have been detected. The estimated capacity across all target horizons is 4.12 million tonnes of lithium metal, with a possible range of 0.34–23.21 million tonnes.
These resources could meet domestic needs for decades. However, the most promising resources are associated with deep, low-permeability Permian deposits. Therefore, new frontier play concepts will be required to commercially utilize these potential resources.
About the Lecturer:
Katharina Alms holds a joint position, leading the Reservoir Geology Team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Infrastructures and Geotechnologies, while also lecturing at the Ruhr University Bochum.
After obtaining her PhD in Geodynamics from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, in 2013, she spent four years working as a structural geologist at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. In 2017, she transitioned from basic to applied research by joining the Geothermal Research Centre in Bochum, Germany, as a Principal Investigator.