The recent increase in demand for lithium has lead to the development of new brine prospects, particularly in the central Andes. The brines are hosted in closed basin aquifers of two types: mature, halite dominant, and immature, clastic dominant. The estimation of elemental resources in these salars depends on a detailed knowledge of aquifer geometry, porosity and brine grade.The geometry of the aquifers can be evaluated by classical geophysical and drilling techniques, but since the resource is a fluid, with the attendant problems of in-aquifer mixing and dilution, existing codes for filing resource and reserve estimates need modification. Total porosity is 2 relatively straightforward to measure, but effective porosity and specific yield, which are required to estimate the resource, are rather more difficult. Recovery factors are low compared with metalliferous and industrial mineral deposits due to reliance on pumping for extraction.These and related issues are discussed in-depth, and suggestions for changes to the reporting of resources and reserves are put forward for such brine prospects.

Abstract:A simple process-based approach to predict regional-scale loading of nitrate at the water table was implemented in a GIS for Great Britain. This links a nitrate input function, unsaturated zone thickness and lithologically-dependent rate of nitrate unsaturated zone travel to estimate arrival time of nitrate at the water table. The nitrate input function is the loading at the base of the soil and has been validated using unsaturated zone pore-water profiles. The unsaturated zone thickness uses groundwater levels based on regional-scale observations infilled by interpolated river base levels. Estimates of the rate of unsaturated zone travel are attributed from regional-scale hydrogeological mapping. The results indicate that peak nitrate loading may have already arrived at the water table for many aquifers, but that it has not where the unsaturated zone is relatively thick There are contrasting outcomes for the two main aquifers which have similar unsaturated zone velocities, the predominantly low relief Permo-Triassic sandstones and the Chalk, which forms significant topographic features. For about 60% of the Chalk, the peak input has not yet reached the water table and will continue to arrive over the next 60 years. The methodology is readily transferable and provides a robust method for estimating peak arrival time for any diffuse conservative pollutant where an input function can be defined at a regional scale and requires only depth to groundwater and a hydrogeological classification. The methodology is extendable in that if additional information is available this can easily be incorporated into the model scheme.

The fluorescence properties of groundwaters from sites in two UK aquifers, the Penrith

Groundwater ecosystems remain poorly understood yet may provide ecosystem services, make a unique contribution to biodiversity and contain useful bio-indicators of water quality. Little is known about ecosystem variability, the distribution of invertebrates within aquifers, or how representative boreholes are of aquifers. We addressed these issues using borehole imaging and single borehole dilution tests to identify three potential aquifer habitats (fractures, fissures or conduits) intercepted by two Chalk boreholes at different depths beneath the surface (34 to 98 m). These habitats were characterised by sampling the invertebrates, microbiology and hydrochemistry using a packer system to isolate them. Samples were taken with progressively increasing pumped volume to assess differences between borehole and aquifer communities. The study provides a new conceptual framework to infer the origin of water, invertebrates and microbes sampled from boreholes. It demonstrates that pumping 5 m3 at 0.4–1.8 l/sec was sufficient to entrain invertebrates from five to tens of metres into the aquifer during these packer tests. Invertebrates and bacteria were more abundant in the boreholes than in the aquifer, with associated water chemistry variations indicating that boreholes act as sites of enhanced biogeochemical cycling. There was some variability in invertebrate abundance and bacterial community structure between habitats, indicating ecological heterogeneity within the aquifer. However, invertebrates were captured in all aquifer samples, and bacterial abundance, major ion chemistry and dissolved oxygen remained similar. Therefore the study demonstrates that in the Chalk, ecosystems comprising bacteria and invertebrates extend from around the water table to 70 m below it. Hydrogeological techniques provide excellent scope for tackling outstanding questions in groundwater ecology, provided an appropriate conceptual hydrogeological understanding is applied.

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