Smackover is a geological formation in Arkansas, containing fossils from the Jurassic Period 175 million years ago. This area was the site of a US oil boom, although nowadays energy scientists are more interested in the lithium brine. A new US Geological Service study confirms the US lithium Smackover reserve is much larger than we previously imagined.
Why This Lithium Reserve Matters to North America
Five years ago we might have wondered whether safer batteries would see lithium off. Since then, however, safer solid-state batteries containing lithium have been knocking on the door. Until recently, the largest known lithium supply chain reserves were in Australia and China, leaving North America dependent on imports until now.
Forbes confirms the US lithium Smackover reserve could contain 9-times the global lithium demand to 2030. Although its existence is hardly earth shattering, having been discovered by oil and natural gas drilling companies decades ago.
ExxonMobil has announced its intention to recover up to 100,000 metric tons of lithium from the Smackover site. But it has not yet said how many years this will take. However, its avowed invention is to supply lithium for a million electric vehicles by 2030.
How ExxonMobil Plans to Extract the Lithium
The lithium reserve is contained in saltwater held under downward pressure in the formation. ExxonMobil plans to drill approximately 10,000 feet below the surface, to release this liquid which will flow naturally upward.
A direct lithium extraction process will recover 90% of the lithium resource. Forbes says this is highly efficient, compared to the 50% reported from evaporation surfaces. The remaining brine will then return to the brine reserve from whence it came.
Forbes notes that this is the first official estimate of the total resource in the US lithium Smackover reserve. Comparable oil and gas estimates have tended to dramatically underestimate the total. More potential may surface as technology advances, however Smackover is clearly already a key energy security resource.
More Information
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Environmental Impact of Lithium Mining
Preview Image: Lithium Mining Rig in Arkansas
