A recent article published in the journal Science Advances suggests that Arkansas may have as much as 19 million tons of raw lithium, which could be mined and used in rechargeable batteries.
The researchers shared in their article that they’ve “calculated that there are 5.1 to 19 million tons of lithium in Smackover Formation brines in southern Arkansas.” If those calculations are accurate, it would mean that in Southern Arkansas is “35 to 136% of the current US lithium resource estimate.”
To find the lithium deposit in Arkansas, researchers used a machine-learning model trained on “published and newly collected brine lithium concentration data” so it could make “a map of predicted lithium concentrations in Smackover Formation brines across southern Arkansas.”
Lithium is defined as a critical mineral by the US Geological Survey and is often obtained from brines or salt flats that they evaporate into.
The USGS shared in a press release on Monday that “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.”
The USGS and the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment’s Office of the State Geologist collaborated on the article’s findings. USGS Director David Applegate shared a statement in his office’s release.
“Lithium is a critical mineral for the energy transition, and the potential for increased US 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,” Applegate said.
Lithium is used in rechargeable batteries, which are then used in cellphones, laptops, and electric vehicles. While demand for the mineral is already high, the International Energy Agency has estimated that it could increase by more than 40 times by 2040.