Arkansas Lithium Innovation Summit Insights
Executive Summary: Arkansas Lithium Innovation Summit Insights Feb. 15-16, 2024
Robinson Center, Little Rock
IN BRIEF
The inaugural Arkansas Lithium Innovation Summit marked a significant milestone for the state's nascent lithium industry. The summit drew about 700 attendees, including energy sector executives, lawmakers, education leaders, infrastructure leaders, industry consultants, analysts, landowners and representatives from ancillary businesses, to discuss the state's potential to become a national leader in lithium production.
OVERVIEW
South Arkansas’ burgeoning lithium industry could contribute up to 15% of the world's lithium market once production scales up, Arkansas Commerce Secretary Hugh McDonald said at the beginning of the inaugural Arkansas Lithium Innovation Summit, held on Feb. 15-16 in Little Rock.
The event attracted about 700 attendees, including energy sector executives, lawmakers, industry consultants, landowners and representatives from ancillary businesses, to discuss the state's potential to become a national leader in lithium production.
Over two days, attendees heard how Arkansas could become a significant domestic source of a mineral increasingly in demand globally and the challenges it must face to grow the industry here. In addition, leaders of major companies discussed how they are already operating in the region and developing new extraction methods to enable full commercial production.
Those leaders included Robert Mintak, CEO of Standard Lithium Ltd. of Vancouver, which has pioneered the direct lithium extraction (DLE) method at pilot plants near El Dorado, and Patrick Howarth, lithium global business manager for Exxon Mobil Corp. of Houston, which entered South Arkansas last year with the purchase of 120,000 acres of mineral rights and plans to begin producing lithium by 2027.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders gave opening remarks at the event and said her administration is taking an “all-of-government” approach to ensure the industry can flourish. She said Arkansas can lead in lithium production because the state’s existing regulatory framework for oil and bromine provides a head start.
Companies like Exxon have put regulatory matters at the top of their list of concerns when it comes to building out supply chains for renewable energy. Howarth said motor vehicle and battery manufacturers need Arkansas lithium, and that the state has the political leadership needed to build the industry to provide it.
"We need to continue to build out regulations so that they're predictable and efficient, and we need fiscal competitiveness,” he said. “The fiscals in Arkansas need to be clear, be certain and be competitive. …We're competing against projects from California to Chile to China.”
Sanders and other political leaders, including U.S. Sen. John Boozman and U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, said being able to source lithium from Arkansas is key to U.S. energy independence from rivals like China, which is home to about 60% of the world’s supply of battery-grade lithium. She also said she wants companies to not only put lithium wells in Arkansas, but to make Arkansas their home, and pointed to other efforts by her administration to improve Arkansas’ recreational opportunities, public safety, tax system and education system, making the state more attractive to newcomers.
There are challenges to growing the industry in Arkansas, which a series of panels examined during the summit. One is infrastructure. South Arkansas needs investments in housing, broadband internet and cellular coverage, roads, bridges, rail and ports.
Nurturing an educated workforce is another. Many workforce development program partnerships already exist between business and education in South Arkansas, but more will be needed. Other leaders noted that Arkansas as a whole must place a greater emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education to produce a workforce capable of thriving in the highly competitive STEM-based industries that mine valuable minerals for use in cutting-edge technology.
Quick Hits
KEY DISCUSSIONS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Arkansas Commerce Secretary Hugh McDonald highlighted the potential for the state to contribute up to 15% of the world's lithium market once production scales up.
Industry leaders from major companies with investments in Arkansas — Standard Lithium of Vancouver (CEO Robert Mintak), Exxon Mobil (Lithium Global Business Manager Patrick Howarth), Albermarle Corp. (Chief Technology Officer Wesley Hamilton) and Tetra Technologies Inc. (CEO Brady Murphy) — described their operations in Arkansas and where they see the industry heading.
Patrick Howarth, ExxonMobil's Lithium Global Business Manager, emphasized the challenges in scaling pilot processes to commercially viable operations, highlighting the integration of direct extraction technology and the goal to power 1 million electric vehicles by 2030.
State and industry leaders say Arkansas' history with oil production positions it well for extracting lithium from brine, an oil drilling byproduct, through the direct lithium extraction (DLE) method.
Companies emphasized the environmental benefits of direct lithium extraction, describing a cleaner method compared to strip mining or evaporative mines.
The summit underscored the importance of lithium in the context of the electric vehicle industry, energy storage needs and national security, considering the U.S.’s current dependence on overseas lithium trade.
Many leaders discussed the potential for job creation in the growing industry and the need to develop an educated workforce to fill those jobs.
Discussions included the direct extraction process of lithium from brine and the importance of commercial viability through integrating new technologies within the production process.
The summit addressed the need for the lithium industry to scale significantly to meet future energy and environmental goals, including U.S. involvement in meeting 2050 net-zero targets.
GOVERNMENTAL SUPPORT
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) expressed the state’s readiness to pave the way for lithium extraction, emphasizing the importance of energy independence.
U.S. Sen. John Boozman (R-Arkansas) pledged to push for federal support of the industry growth and resist regulations that might stifle development. He also noted Arkansas Tech University development of a Bachelor of Science degree in geosciences to support the industry.
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas), via video, said the growth of the domestic lithium industry is key to U.S. energy independence. (Westerman is chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, and south Arkansas is in his congressional district.)
WHAT’S DRIVING LITHIUM DEMAND
Experts at the summit said energy storage and electric vehicle use are driving the lithium demand. And because demand for batteries for the mobility sector is great, lithium production must scale 10x by 2024 to meet 2050 net zero goals — far beyond what other mineral sectors need to do.
President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act spurred U.S. battery manufacturing, which means the supply chain for batteries must scale to meet demand.
Lithium is a plentiful resource on Earth. But lithium at the right concentration levels for battery use is harder to come by. And most of it, about 60%, is in China.
CONCLUSION & OUTLOOK
The Arkansas Lithium Innovation Summit concluded with optimism about the state’s role in the lithium industry, a commitment to collaboration between public and private sectors, and an open call for further investment in Arkansas. The critical takeaway from the summit was the collective enthusiasm and dedication to establishing a robust, sustainable lithium market in Arkansas, thereby contributing to the nation’s energy independence and economic growth.
NEXT STEPS
The momentum from the summit is expected to drive new regulations, infrastructure development and workforce education to facilitate the growth of the lithium industry in Arkansas. Significant industry developments are expected by 2027, when commercial mining operations could come online.
PEOPLE ON STAGE AT THE SUMMIT
Key attendees: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders; U.S. Sen. John Boozman; U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman (via video); Arkansas Commerce Secretary Hugh McDonald; representatives from south Arkansas lithium/bromine players Standard Lithium Ltd. of Vancouver, Exxon Mobil Corp., Albermarle Corp. (CTO Wesley Hamilton) and Tetra Technologies Inc. (CEO Brady Murphy); investment players Jeff Fox (Circumference Group of Little Rock), Tommy Moll (Stephens Inc. of Little Rock), Rahim Bapoo (BMO Capital).
South Arkansas stakeholders included: Ellie Baker, executive director, Magnolia Economic Development; Judge Valarie Clark, Lafayette County; Robert Mangham, Arkansas Nature Conservancy; Arkansas House Speaker Matthew Shepherd.
Infrastructure leaders included: Lorie Tudor, director of the state Department of Transportation; Bryan Day, executive director, Port of Little Rock; Michael Considine, VP of power delivery, Entergy Arkansas; Drew Tessier, senior public affairs director, Union Pacific; Jerrod Mounce, VP of energy and sustainability, J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell; David Elrod of the West Memphis Port.
Education leaders included: Stephanie Tully-Dartez, interim president/vice president for academic affairs, South Arkansas College; Christine Holt, chancellor, University of Arkansas Texarkana; David Rankin, president emeritus, Southern Arkansas University; Summer DeProw, chancellor, University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College; Peggy Doss, chancellor, University of Arkansas Monticello; Erik Pollock, director of stable isotope and trace elements facilities at the University of Arkansas; a University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff representative; and Mike Rogers, chief workforce officer, governor’s workforce cabinet.
FURTHER READING
