{"id":425408,"date":"2026-02-09T20:05:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=425408"},"modified":"2026-02-09T20:05:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:05:19","slug":"arkansas-lithium-jackpot-new-tech-turns-ancient-saltwater-into-white-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=425408","title":{"rendered":"Arkansas\u2019 Lithium Jackpot: New Tech Turns Ancient Saltwater Into \u2018White Gold\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Large<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe estimate there is enough dissolved lithium present in that region to replace US imports of lithium and more.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

From Legal Insurrection<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posted by Leslie Eastman<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tucked beneath the pine forests and farm fields of southwest Arkansas, drillers have stumbled upon a critical mineral jackpot: lithium in the region\u2019s ancient saltwater<\/a> formations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Last fall, the U.S. Geological Survey announced that an estimated 5 to 19 million tons of lithium are located in southwestern Arkansas. That is enough lithium to meet the world\u2019s estimated 2030 demand for lithium nine times over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lithium is located in the Smackover Formation, a geological formation created by an ancient sea that extends across southwest Arkansas and several neighboring states. Back in the 1920s, oil was discovered in the Smackover Formation, setting off a boom in southern Arkansas.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Smackover Formation<\/a> is a deep (roughly 8,000\u201310,000 feet) carbonate aquifer that has been tapped for decades for oil, gas, and bromine-bearing brines, resulting in extensive existing subsurface data and infrastructure. Recent technological developments now enable the U.S. to tap previously unusable brines to extract lithium, a key component of batteries, pharmaceuticals, glass, ceramics, and military equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, with the development of the new Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) process, this quiet corner of the South is suddenly staring at an economic bonanza<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

A recent study estimated that there could be enough lithium inside a giant slab of limestone rock, known as the Smackover Formation, to meet the entire global demand for electric cars in 2030 nine times over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using DLE, miners will soon be able to pull out lithium-rich saltwater from underground reservoirs in Arkansas, filter out the minerals, and return the processed groundwater to the Earth within 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2024 estimate of 19 million tons of lithium in the Smackover Formation would be enough to erase the nation\u2019s current dependence on China, which controls roughly 70 percent of the world\u2019s lithium supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katherine Knierim from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said: \u2018We estimate there is enough dissolved lithium present in that region to replace US imports of lithium and more.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Please accept cookies to access this content<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In DLE, lithium\u2011rich brine <\/a>from reservoirs, oilfield water, or geothermal fluids is first pretreated to remove impurities, then passed through lithium\u2011selective media that capture Li\u207a while most other ions remain in the brine. Then the lithium is stripped into a concentrated solution (often lithium chloride) and further processed into battery\u2011grade lithium carbonate or hydroxide. Unused brine is typically reinjected underground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire process enables faster production (hours to days), higher recoveries, and a smaller land and water footprint compared with conventional methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new process needs to be scaled, but the company has been refining it since 2024 and anticipates bringing the lithium product to market by 2028. The area is poised for economic growth and long-term prosperity<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The DLE process, developed with Koch Technology Solutions and Equinor, extracts lithium directly from brine, offering a faster and cleaner alternative to traditional mining. However, this method has yet to be proven at a commercial scale in the U.S., making Arkansas a testing ground for the future of lithium production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project promises economic benefits for South Arkansas, including new high-skilled jobs, major investments in rural communities, and growth for local businesses. Standard Lithium is also negotiating up to $1 billion in project financing with international lenders and export credit agencies.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, what is happening in Smackover feels less like a regional development project and more like a distinctly American magic trick: turning salt water into the modern world\u2019s version of gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engineers and chemists are stitching together advanced membranes, custom sorbents, and real\u2011time controls in a high\u2011tech update of the old oil patch, proving that the same ingenuity that once fueled the petroleum age can now power the battery age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As brine flows down and lithium\u2011rich solution comes back up, Arkansas becomes a live demonstration that American innovation can rewrite the value of its own geology\u2026reworking the \u201cwaste\u201d of yesterday into the strategic treasure of tomorrow, one shimmering stream of salt water at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"An<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe estimate there is enough dissolved lithium present in that region to replace US imports of lithium and more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":425412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvY2xpbWF0ZS1zY2llbmNlLnByZXNzXC93cC1jb250ZW50XC91cGxvYWRzXC8yMDI2XC8wMlwvMEFRTThFZ3lQZnZKSnN1QVdxYjVmNERSZUFlV3R3U3hQQk9tNzlwN0pmQUZDUFJ1WnlMNXhocldRQnlwaldsemZEQlFobGFLQjFXNTdkQ19NUHdIelFmZWk3NTFpckdFRUdlcmhXN3FBWUd0ckMxVnJsOThYaDg3ODFCUHAycFNtLTEtMTAyNHg1MTYuanBlZyIsInR4dCI6IkFya2Fuc2FzXHUyMDE5IExpdGhpdW0gSmFja3BvdDogTmV3IFRlY2ggVHVybnMgQW5jaWVudCBTYWx0d2F0ZXIgSW50byBcdTIwMThXaGl0ZSBHb2xkXHUyMDE5IiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJoaWdod2F5IiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE1NTgxMjQ0OX0.vVSgG59uO1dh3n0WnFJ48r6ILwWfmwpqHATGWCCYKtgMQ"},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691841306,691841305,691841303,691818266,691841307],"class_list":{"0":"post-425408","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-ancient-underground-saltwater","9":"tag-arkansas","10":"tag-direct-lithium-extraction-dle","11":"tag-lithium","12":"tag-smackover-formation","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0AQM8EgyPfvJJsuAWqb5f4DReAeWtwSxPBOm79p7JfAFCPRuZyL5xhrWQBypjWlzfDBQhlaKB1W57dC_MPwHzQfei751irGEEGerhW7qAYGtrC1Vrl98Xh8781BPp2pSm-1.jpeg?fit=1480%2C746&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1MFq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":277171,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=277171","url_meta":{"origin":425408,"position":0},"title":"Electric vehicles catch fire after being exposed to saltwater from Hurricane Idalia","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/09\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Idalia vehicles were apparently flooded with salt water. 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