Researchers say Arkansas may have 19M tons of lithium critical for battery power

Researchers said in a recent article that Arkansas may have 19 million tons of lithium, which is used in rechargeable batteries for important products like phones and electric cars.

The researchers said in their article released last month in the journal Science Advances they had “calculated that there are 5.1 to 19 million tons of lithium in Smackover Formation brines in southern Arkansas,” making up “35 to 136% of the current US lithium resource estimate.”

According to a Monday release from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), “the Smackover Formation is a relic of an ancient sea that left an extensive, porous, and permeable limestone geologic unit that extends under parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.”

Lithium, which has been labeled by the USGS as a critical mineral, has been often obtained from brines or salt flats they evaporate into. According to a projection from the International Energy Agency, demand for lithium could increase by more than 40 times by 2040.

According to the article, the researchers utilized a machine-learning model trained on “published and newly collected brine lithium concentration data,” making “a map of predicted lithium concentrations in Smackover Formation brines across southern Arkansas.” 

The article’s findings come from the work of both the USGS and the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment’s Office of the State Geologist, according to the USGS release. 

“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. This study illustrates the value of science in addressing economically important issues,” USGS Director David Applegate said in the release.