Patent ID: 8309043

Claim:
A process of recovering Li values from a sodium saturated brine which contains LiX, wherein X is selected from the group consisting of halide, nitrate, sulfate and bicarbonate, said process comprising: (a) concentrating the sodium saturated brine to at least 9000 mg/l LiX; (b) passing the concentrated brine through a bed of pellets comprising polycrystalline hydrated alumina until the pellets are loaded with LiX from the concentrated brine; (c) displacing brine held-up in the bed by using concentrated NaX; (d) unloading LiX from the pellets by flowing through the bed an aqueous solution of LiX which is not saturated; (e) displacing the LiX from the bed using concentrated NaX; and (f) repeating steps (b) through (e) at least one additional time to provide the Li values.