Researchers find millions of tons of lithium deposits in Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A new federal study claims Arkansas has enough lithium to meet at least nine times the projected 2030 global demand for the product.

Officials said the U.S. Geological Survey study determined that the Smackover Formation has between 5 and 19 million tons of product. The study’s authors said the ability to meet nine times the global demand was made using the 5 million ton estimate, the low end of the potential, provided it is commercially recoverable.

The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment’s Office of State Geologist collaborated on the project to investigate underground brine deposits.

Officials said lithium is growing in importance globally as a critical element in batteries as the world transitions from fossil fuels to electric and hybrid vehicles. The study’s authors said that the U.S. imports more than 25% of its lithium.

Hydrologist and principal researcher for the study, Katherine Knierim, said this was a first-time estimate of Arkansas lithium reserves.

“Our research was able to estimate total lithium present in the southwestern portion of the Smackover in Arkansas for the first time,” Kirrium said. “We estimate there is enough dissolved lithium present in that region to replace U.S. imports of lithium and more.”

Kirrium cautioned that the study did not estimate the technically recoverable amount based on new and evolving extraction methods.

The Smackover Foundation formed in a limestone deposit where there was once an ocean in the Jurassic period, roughly 200 to 145 million years ago. The high-salinity saltwater deep underground, the brine, contains lithium.

Energy producers have begun exploring alternative means of extracting lithium from the brine, with global producer Exxon drilling its first Smackover well in November 2023 as part of its plan to become a leading lithium supplier by 2030 .

The study’s authors said they used a combination of water testing and machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence, to come to its conclusion. Researchers took brine samples and compared them with historic water sample data. They then used machine learning to plot lithium concentrations with geological data to map deposits.

Arkansas is at the northern end of the Smackover Formation. It extends into Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.

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