Arkansas has a $150 billion lithium ‘treasure trove’ that could meet global demand for electric vehicle batteries by 2030.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) found between five and 19 million tons of lithium in the Smackover Formation, which is nine times the amount needed to meet current demand for electric vehicles in the United States by the end of the decade.
The metal is a necessary component for batteries used in electric vehicles and can be extracted from brine wastewater from the same mines that produce oil and gas.
“Lithium is a critical mineral for the energy transition, and the potential for increased U.S. production to replace imports has implications for employment, manufacturing, and supply chain resilience,” said USGS Director David Applegate. .
“This study illustrates the value of science in addressing economically important issues.”
Several companies, including Exxon Mobil, have already begun drilling exploratory wells to extract lithium 4,000 feet underground.
Global demand for lithium has increased dramatically in recent years as countries make progress in transitioning from using fossil fuels in gasoline cars to electric and hybrid vehicles.
A $1.5 billion gold-lithium mine was discovered in the Smackover Formation in southeastern Arkansas.
The gold and lithium mine was discovered in an area rich in oil and bromine deposits dating back to the Jurassic geological period stretching from Texas to Florida.
“Our research was able to estimate the total lithium present in the southwest portion of Smackover, Arkansas for the first time,” said Dr. Katherine Knierim, a USGS hydrologist who conducted the research.
“We estimate that there is enough dissolved lithium present in that region to replace US imports of lithium and more.”
The USGS study found that if companies were to extract lithium alongside oil and gas operations, it would provide “an opportunity to extract a valuable product from what would otherwise be considered a waste stream.”
“The current mining infrastructure in the Smackover Formation is associated with oil and gas, and brine (for bromine) extraction, which began in the 1930s and 1950s respectively,” Dr Knierim told DailyMail.com.
‘Essentially, lithium could be removed from the wastewater associated with these mining operations before the wastewater is pumped back into the formation as usual.
“The footprint of this type of mining is much smaller and it is a fairly closed system.”
There are currently more than 46,000 oil and gas wells that have been drilled in the state since 1925, and in 2022, nearly 2,000 people live in Arkansas’ Smackover Formation.
The researchers used machine learning models to estimate the total amount of lithium in the Smackover Formation of Arkansas by comparing data from brine samples to data from historical samples in the USGS produced water database.
The machine learning model, a type of artificial intelligence, used the data set to create maps of lithium concentrations across the region.
Several companies have acquired land where they will extract lithium to meet global demand for electric vehicles.
Companies have already begun building lithium wells in Arkansas and hope to produce the metal for electric vehicle batteries by 2027.
Exxon Mobil Corporation drilled its first lithium well in Arkansas last year after acquiring the rights to 120,000 gross acres of land.
The company aims to begin producing lithium in 2027 and, by 2030, plans to produce enough metal to supply more than one million electric vehicles a year.
“Southern Arkansas is the comprehensive energy capital of our state, producing oil, natural gas and now thanks to investments like those of ExxonMobil and its combination of skills and scale: lithium,” Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee said at the time Sanders.
“My administration supports an all-of-the-above energy strategy that ensures good, well-paying jobs for Arkansas, and we will continue to cut taxes and reduce bureaucracy to make that happen.”
The Southwest Formation is an area rich in oil and bromine deposits dating to the Jurassic geologic period that extends from Texas to Florida.
Huckabee Sanders has not clarified what red tape he would cut to make lithium mining a reality in the state, but Exxon and other companies are looking at more expensive methods to access the metal.
One method is a direct lithium extraction (DLE) approach, which extracts the metal from the existing waste stream in the form of brines from which oil and gas are already being removed.
Brine waste streams are highly concentrated saline solutions that contain more than twice the amount of salt found in natural brines, such as seawater.
Disposal of waste can be challenging due to purification requirements, as it contains oil, grease and heavy metals that can affect groundwater quality.
Brian Umberson, a technology consultant in high-tech manufacturing and biotech diagnostics, said NPR That the DLE’ approach is an extremely good process for southern Arkansas because it’s not like they’re pumping a huge amount of material out of the soil, causing pressurization problems or whatever.
“They just take it out, pump it out, and pump it back in.”
However, the director of the Great Basin Center for Biological Diversity, Patrick Donnelly, told the outlet that there is no such thing as obtaining the metal without causing a negative impact on the environment.
“It’s not neutral,” Donnelly said. ‘I mean, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. And there are impacts of DLE.
‘Some of the impacts we’ve heard about include the use of fresh water, like not only are they using brine, but they’re also using fresh water to produce lithium.
“The other major impact we’ve been thinking about is waste streams, particularly solid waste streams,” he continued.
“It is impossible for them to extract just lithium.”
Chemicals used in DLE, such as sulfuric acid, can contaminate soil and water, posing a health risk to humans and wildlife.
Sulfuric acid is highly corrosive and would burn plants, birds or animals exposed to it and cause respiratory irritation in humans, which could cause immediate burning in the mouth and throat, headache, nausea and vomiting.
Currently, there is no commercial lithium production in Arkansas; The US Department of Energy is holding talks with two lithium mining companies: Standard Lithium and Lanxess.
The Energy Department is considering providing up to $225 million for the Southwest Arkansas Project, which would build the first central lithium processing facility.
David Park, CEO of Standard Lithium, said Fox that the project has the potential to produce more than 100,000 tons of lithium per year, but will need to receive approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before it can begin.
The first phase of the project is expected to begin in late 2025 and begin production from 2027.
DailyMail.com contacted the USGS for comment on the environmental impact of lithium mining in Arkansas.