Southern state could become 'white gold' boom town after $150 billion lithium reserve discovery

Arkansas is sitting on a $150 billion 'hidden treasure' trove of lithium that could meet the global demand for EV batteries by 2030.

The US 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 the ongoing electric vehicle demand  in the US by the end of the decade.

The metal is a necessary component for batteries used in EVs and can be extracted from the 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,' USGS Director David Applegate said.

'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 the lithium from 4,000 feet below ground.

The global demand for lithium has drastically increased in recent years as countries move to transition from using fossil fuels in gas-powered cars to electric and hybrid vehicles.

The lithium gold mine was discovered in an area rich in oil and bromine deposits dating back to the Jurassic geological time period that stretches from Texas to Florida.

'Our research was able to estimate total lithium present in the southwestern portion of the Smackover in Arkansas for the first time,' said Dr Katherine Knierim, a USGS hydrologist who conducted the research. 

'We estimate there is enough dissolved lithium present in that region to replace U.S. imports of lithium and more.'

The USGS study found that if companies extracted lithium alongside oil and gas operations, it would provide 'an opportunity to extract a valuable commodity 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 mining (for bromine), which began in the 1930s and 1950s, respectively,' Dr Knierim told DailyMail.com. 

'Essentially, lithium could be removed from wastewater associated with these mining operations before the wastewater is pumped back into the formation as per usual. 

'The footprint of this type of mining is much smaller and it's a fairly closed system.' 

There are currently over 46,000 oil and gas wells that have been drilled in the state since 1925 and as of 2022, nearly 2,000 people live in Arkansas' Smackover Formation. 

Researchers used machine learning models to estimate the total amount of lithium in Arkansas' Smackover Formation by comparing data from brine samples with data from historic samples in the USGS Produced Waters Database.

The machine learning model - a type of artificial intelligence - used the dataset to create maps of lithium concentrations across the region. 

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 is aiming to start producing lithium in 2027 and by 2030, it plans to produce enough of the metal to supply over one million EVs per year.

'South Arkansas is our state's all-around energy capital, producing oil, natural gas, and now thanks to investments like ExxonMobil's and their combination of skills and scale: lithium,' Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at the time.

'My administration supports an all-of-the-above energy strategy that guarantees good, high-paying jobs for Arkansas – and we'll continue to cut taxes and slash red tape to make that happen.'

Huckabee Sanders hasn't clarified what red tape she would cut through 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 as brines where they're already removing oil and gas.

Brine waste streams are highly concentrated saline solutions that contain more than twice the amount of salt found in natural brines, like seawater.

Disposing the waste can be challenging because of the purification requirements given that they contain oil, grease and heavy metals that can impact the quality of groundwater.

Brian Umberson, a technological consultant in high-tech manufacturing and biotech diagnostics told NPR that the DLE approach 'is an extremely good process for south Arkansas because it's not like they're pumping a tremendous amount of material out of the ground, causing pressurization issues or whatever.

'They just pump it out, extract it, and pump it right back in.'

However, the Center of Biological Diversity's Great Basin director, Patrick Donnelly told the outlet that there's no such thing as getting the metal without causing a negative impact on the environment.

'It is not neutral,' Donnelly said. 'I mean, there is no such thing as a free lunch. And there are impacts from DLE. 

'Some of the impacts we've heard about include freshwater use, like it's not just brine they're going to be using, they're also going to be using freshwater to actually produce the lithium.

'The other major impact that we've been thinking about is waste streams, in particular, a solid waste stream,' he continued.

'It's impossible for them to extract only the lithium.'

Chemicals used in DLE, like sulfuric acid, can contaminate the soil and water, posing a health risk to humans and wildlife.

Sulfuric acid is highly corrosive and would burn plants, birds or animals that are exposed to it and cause respiratory irritation in humans including causing immediate burning in the mouth and throat, headache, nausea and vomiting.

Currently, there isn't any commercial lithium production in Arkansas the US Department of Energy is holding discussions with two lithium mining companies: Standard Lithium and Lanxess.

The DoE is considering providing up to $225 million toward the Southwest Arkansas Project which would construct the first central lithium processing facility.

Standard Lithium CEO David Park told Fox that the project has the potential to produce more than 100,000 tons of lithium annually but will need to receive approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before they can break ground.

The first phase of the project is expected to get underway by the end of 2025 and begin production as early as 2027. 

DailyMail.com has reached out to the USGS for comment on the environmental impact of lithium mining in Arkansas.