A ‘geologic freak’ called the Smackover may end America’s lithium dependence on China, and Big Oil is already there

Global lithium demand has jumped more than 400% just this decade, to over 1.5 million metric tons per year. By 2035, that demand could approach 4 million tons. Lithium-ion battery demand for electric vehicles, utility-scale and data center energy storage, and the emerging robotics industry are all driving the growth.

The problem is the U.S. produces little more than 1% of the world’s lithium supplies, largely from Albemarle’s Silver Peak mine in Nevada. The world relies primarily on China for refining, as it does for many other critical minerals and rare earths.

That may be about to change. About 1,500 miles from Silver Peak lies the oddly named Smackover Formation in southern Arkansas and East Texas. Crude oil was discovered there a century ago. Now industry is fixated on its unusually large lithium concentrations in its massive underground aquifer. Early French settlers called the area “Sumac Couvert,” meaning “covered in sumac bushes,” and the name evolved into Smackover.

“It’s a geologic freak with its very high lithium concentrations,” Standard Lithium CEO David Park told Fortune. “We believe that our lands alone have the potential for over 150,000 tons per year of production.”

Standard Lithium is, well, the standard bearer for the Smackover—the region with the most potential to turn the U.S. into a major lithium player. It is slated to authorize its South West Arkansas Project (SWA) late this year and start construction on the first 22,500-ton phase in the first quarter of 2027.

Its brash challenger is Austin, Texas-based EnergyX (short for Energy Exploration Technologies), which is led by Elon Musk acolyte Teague Egan, 38. EnergyX could break ground on its 15,000-ton Project Lonestar commercial facility by the end of 2027. A 250-ton pilot plant came online earlier this year.

Big Oil is following. ExxonMobil established its position three years ago and now holds more than 400,000 net acres, the largest in the formation. It plans to start building a pilot project there next year. Chevron also bought a lot of land, announcing a 125,000-acre position last year.

The U.S. lacks the traditional resources of leading producers Australia, Chile, Argentina, and China. It has few open-pit, hard-rock deposits or economically viable evaporation ponds, such as Silver Lake.

The reason Exxon and Chevron bought in is because the Smackover instead requires newer direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology. Operators drill wells much like oil and gas producers do, pump out the brine water, process and refine the lithium, and return more than 90% of........

© Fortune