Lithium in south Arkansas -- the next boom?

An undisclosed lithium drill site in Columbia County. (Contributed)


Lithium, an alkali metal used in the manufacture of increasingly important lithium ion batteries, is a word residents of south Arkansas should get used to hearing.

This summer, oil and gas mega-corporation Exxon Mobil paid over $100 million for 120,000 gross acres in the Smackover Formation in south Arkansas.

South Arkansas, and the Smackover formation generally, is an attractive prospect for lithium production because of the presence of lithium in the region’s subterranean brine, along with existing oil and brine extraction infrastructure.

According to a May article in the Wall Street Journal that revealed the purchase, Exxon Mobil “bought 120,000 gross acres in the Smackover formation of southern Arkansas from an exploration company called Galvanic Energy.” The WSJ article goes on to quote Galvanic Energy’s estimate that the purchased area “could have 4 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent, enough to power 50 million EVs [electric vehicles].”


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https://www.pressreader.com/usa/el-dorado-news-times/20231126/281492166067454

(Comment): Yes that is what a South Arkansas Lithium "mine" looks like... It is a deep well where the Salt water (brine) is pumped to a refinery.