Treated geothermal brine compositions with reduced concentration of silica, iron and lithium

A method for producing lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate from a brine solution, the method comprising the steps of,

• providing a brine solution comprising lithium and silica;
• supplying the brine solution to a silica management step to remove silica from the brine solution to produce a silica-lean lithium containing solution;
• supplying the silica-lean lithium containing solution to a lithium capture step, the lithium capture step being operable to capture lithium from the silica-lean lithium containing solution, wherein the lithium capture step selectively isolates lithium from the silica-lean lithium containing solution;
• wherein the lithium capture step includes the step of contacting the silica-lean lithium containing solution with an intercalate operable to capture the lithium from the silica-lean lithium containing solution;
• recovering the lithium from the lithium capture step using wash water to produce a lithium-rich stream comprising at least one of calcium, magnesium, manganese or zinc, and
• contacting the lithium-rich stream with a base and a carbonate such that a portion of the at least one of calcium, magnesium, manganese or zinc present in the lithium-rich stream is removed as a solid precipitate to produce a purified lithium-rich stream comprising lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate.