Arkansas may be sitting on 19 million tons of lithium

Jennifer Mossalgue
| Oct 22 2024 - 5:35 am PT

Researchers now estimate how much “white gold” may be found in southern Arkansas’s vast lithium reserves: up to 19 million tons, or enough to meet the projected 2030 world demand nine times over.

United States Geological Survey (USGS) researchers used water testing and machine learning to get an estimate of what might be found in an underground brine in the Smackover Formation in southern Arkansas, a relic of an ancient sea that is now a vast limestone formation that stretches from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, and into Florida. The researchers announced that it could contain anywhere from 5 million to 19 million tons of lithium.

“If commercially recoverable, the amount of lithium present would meet projected 2030 world demand for lithium in car batteries nine times over,” the researchers said in a news release.

Published in the journal Science Advances, the study cites that the lithium found in southern Arkansas could make up to 36% to 136% of the current US lithium reserve estimate – of course, that’s a sweeping number, but we get the gist. A lot of lithium, but the problem is how to get it out.

Lithium extraction – a nascent industry in the US – usually involves open-pit drilling and creating huge evaporation pools, all which can take months and years and leave destruction in their wake. Last year, ExxonMobil acquired the rights to 120,000 gross acres of the Smackover formation in southern Arkansas and have been using oil and gas drilling methods to access the saltwater brine about 10,000 feet underground.

More:
https://electrek.co/2024/10/22/arkansas-may-be-sitting-on-19-million-tons-of-lithium/

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Lithium in Smackover Formation
By Communications and Publishing
October 2024 (approx.)



Detailed Description
This map of the U.S. shows an inset area displaying highlighted areas for the Smackover Formation and sampling area. The Smackover formation (highlighted in yellow) covers the southern to eastern portion of Texas, southern portion of Arkansas, the upper half of Louisiana and some eastern areas, southern half of Mississippi, southwest area of Alabama, and portions of the Florida panhandle. The sampling area is located in the lower portion of Arkansas (highlighted with red stripes).

https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/lithium-smackover-formation