USGS Report Shows Arkansas Sitting on Vast Lithium Reserves
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The spotlight on Arkansas lithium got brighter this week, with a New York Times report on Monday detailing findings from a government study that estimates between 5 and 19 million tons of lithium reserves lie in the Smackover Formation beneath southwestern Arkansas.
A study led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) says, “If commercially recoverable, the amount of lithium present would meet the projected 2030 world demand for lithium in car batteries nine times over.”
The study, published in the journal Science, was led by the USGS in collaboration with the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment’s Office of the State Geologist.
In its report on the survey, the Times noted the ongoing exploratory activity by companies in Arkansas seeking to profitably mine lithium at a commercial scale, including ExxonMobil, which the newspaper said is “evaluating whether it could extract lithium in a cost-competitive way.”
“We know we have an attractive resource,” Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil’s Low Carbon Solutions business, told the Times. “We’re working on understanding that cost equation, understanding the supply-and-demand picture.”
How They Did It: The USGS says it used “a combination of water testing and machine learning” to conduct the study:
“Our research was able to estimate total lithium present in the southwestern portion of the Smackover in Arkansas for the first time. We estimate there is enough dissolved lithium present in that region to replace U.S. imports of lithium and more. It is important to caution that these estimates are an in-place assessment. We have not estimated what is technically recoverable based on newer methods to extract lithium from brines,” said Katherine Knierim, a hydrologist and the study’s principal researcher.
Context: The high visibility of a New York Times article and the cutting-edge scientific study behind it — not to mention multiple pickups of the story by news organizations worldwide — will continue to raise Arkansas’ profile among global energy experts and investors.
More: Read the New York Times story here (paywall), the USGS summary here and the Science article abstract here.
Lithium Industry Leaders Talk Royalty at AAEA Conference
Arkansas’ competitiveness with other states — mainly Texas — is on the line when it comes to the still-unsettled lithium royalty debate in Arkansas. That was among the messages industry leaders shared at a recent Arkansas Advanced Energy Association (AAEA) conference in Little Rock.
Jesse Edmondson, government relations director for Standard Lithium Ltd. of Vancouver, said that while Arkansas has significant lithium potential, Texas offers higher-quality lithium brine, and unresolved disputes could shift the industry away from Arkansas.
“I want nothing more than for Arkansas to really plant the flag for this and be the next lithium producer in the United States,” Edmondson said, according to a report by Phillip Powell of the Arkansas Times.
“But the thing that keeps me up at night is knowing that East Texas has higher quality lithium brine than Arkansas … but we are at an interesting crossroads with setting this royalty [rate].”
Background: While companies like Standard Lithium, ExxonMobil and others have proposed a 1.82% royalty rate on extracted lithium in Arkansas, the South Arkansas Minerals Association, representing South Arkansas landowners, is pushing for a 12.5% royalty. Edmondson argues that would stifle industry development in the state.
Edmonson was joined on a panel by AAEA Executive Director Lauren Waldrip, who also fears that high royalties would make Arkansas uncompetitive, especially as global lithium prices fluctuate.
What’s Next: The royalty matter will be revisited by the Arkansas Oil & Gas Commission in November.
More: Read the Arkansas Times article here.
Parting Shot: Deja Vu All Over Again
Grist Reporter Katie Meyers travels to Lewisville, Ark., where companies like ExxonMobil and Standard Lithium are preparing to extract lithium from the Smackover Formation. But amid promises of economic revival and jobs, residents remain cautious due to historical environmental damage from the oil industry and concerns about equitable distribution of wealth.
There are also questions about whether local communities, especially Black residents, will benefit from the boom. Mayor Ethan Dunbar says he’s trying to be optimistic:
“Think about Albemarle in Magnolia,” he said, referring to the bromine plant about 30 miles up the road. “Get a job at Albemarle, you stay there 25 years, you earn a decent salary, you’d have a decent retirement. You can live well. Quality of life is good. We are hoping to see the same thing here.”
Read the full story here.
