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lithium race intensifies as Arkansas advances DLE prospects","us-lithium-race-intensifies-as-arkansas-advances-dle-prospects","article/us-lithium-race-intensifies-as-arkansas-advances-dle-prospects",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":566,"content":576,"excerpt":711,"featured":50,"reporter":712,"_editable":716,"component":717,"seo_title":553,"categories":718,"visibility":721,"author_company":49,"featured_image":722,"seo_description":711,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":727,"formattedArticleDate":728},"bf3a520f-eb1d-4e90-94d3-01106eafcc54","2023-09-21 00:00",[560,563],{"slug":561,"name":562},"dle","DLE",{"slug":564,"name":565},"usa","USA",[567],{"slug":568,"name":569,"content":570},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":571,"image":572,"bio":574,"linkedin":575},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":573},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":577,"content":578},"doc",[579,586,591,596,601,606,621,626,631,636,649,656,661,666,671,676,681,686,691,696,701,706],{"type":580,"attrs":581,"content":582},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":585},"The governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has underlined the state’s ambitions to become a leading hub for the development of North America’s battery supply chain, emphasising the potential of new technology in advancing lithium prospects in legacy oil areas.","text",{"type":580,"attrs":587,"content":588},{"textAlign":49},[589],{"text":590,"type":585},"The state is “moving at breakneck speed to become the lithium capital of America,” Sanders said in a speech last week, mentioning developments in El Dorado, Magnolia and Smackover. ",{"type":580,"attrs":592,"content":593},{"textAlign":49},[594],{"text":595,"type":585},"The comments come as the focus on commercialising a number of DLE projects across North America has intensified and operators in Arkansas are now seeking to secure access to additional resources across the state. ",{"type":580,"attrs":597,"content":598},{"textAlign":49},[599],{"text":600,"type":585},"“Brine lithium is critical for batteries and other energy products, and I’m not being dramatic when I say this has the potential to transform the region and our entire state,” Republican governor Sanders said.",{"type":580,"attrs":602,"content":603},{"textAlign":49},[604],{"text":605,"type":585},"One of the companies which has pioneered DLE efforts in Arkansas, Standard Lithium, recently acquired a 118-acre parcel located in Lafayette County, adding to its around 180,000 acres of leases in the Smackover brine formation.",{"type":580,"attrs":607,"content":608},{"textAlign":49},[609,611,619],{"text":610,"type":585},"The lithium startup, backed by ",{"text":612,"type":585,"marks":613},"Koch Industries",[614],{"type":615,"attrs":616},"link",{"href":617,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":618},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/koch-takes-energy-storage-spend-to-over-500-million-with-standard-lithium","url",{"text":620,"type":585},", is set to build its first commercial extraction plant next year, at a cost of $365 million. It will use a selective sorption DLE process to produce around 5,400 tonnes a year of battery-quality lithium carbonate from brines in the Smackover formation in southern Arkansas.",{"type":580,"attrs":622,"content":623},{"textAlign":49},[624],{"text":625,"type":585},"US lithium producer Albemarle also said this summer it will build a plant to extract lithium using DLE in the Smackover, where it produces bromine from brine. Exxon Mobil has also reportedly bought 120,000 acres across the Smackover formation.",{"type":580,"attrs":627,"content":628},{"textAlign":49},[629],{"text":630,"type":585},"Last month, Australia’s Pantera Minerals acquired a stake in Daytona Lithium, which has 5,325 acres in the Smackover.",{"type":580,"attrs":632,"content":633},{"textAlign":49},[634],{"text":635,"type":585},"News of progress in Arkansas comes after Canadian developer E3 Lithium announced last month it had begun production at its pilot-scale direct lithium extraction (DLE) facility, located in Alberta, Canada. E3 plans to achieve an initial phase nameplate capacity of 20,000 tpa of lithium hydroxide at the DLE project in Alberta, with production expected to begin in 2026.",{"type":580,"attrs":637,"content":638},{"textAlign":49},[639,641,647],{"text":640,"type":585},"Supply from North American DLE projects is set to increase sevenfold this decade to almost over 60,000 tonnes LCE, according to Benchmark’s ",{"text":642,"type":585,"marks":643},"Lithium Forecast",[644],{"type":615,"attrs":645},{"href":646,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":618},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/forecasts/lithium/",{"text":648,"type":585},". Arkansas is expected to count for almost a third of that supply. ",{"type":650,"attrs":651,"content":653},"heading",{"level":652,"textAlign":49},4,[654],{"text":655,"type":585},"DLE central to US lithium ambitions",{"type":580,"attrs":657,"content":658},{"textAlign":49},[659],{"text":660,"type":585},"The US accounts for less than 2% of the global lithium chemicals supply but this is set to rise to 10% by the end of the decade, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Forecast, driven by growth in alternative lithium extraction methods.",{"type":580,"attrs":662,"content":663},{"textAlign":49},[664],{"text":665,"type":585},"“The demand for DLE projects is justified, especially considering the relentless US battery interest and composition of domestic lithium projects. It’s a case of when, not if, these chemicals enter the market at scale” said James Mills, consultant with Benchmark.",{"type":580,"attrs":667,"content":668},{"textAlign":49},[669],{"text":670,"type":585},"With US DLE prospects experiencing positive regulatory and industrial tailwinds, the race is now on to scale new technologies and bring commercial chemical volumes to market.",{"type":580,"attrs":672,"content":673},{"textAlign":49},[674],{"text":675,"type":585},"Development of these chemical refineries to match extractive ambitions is a critical link in the supply chain that not many have yet addressed.",{"type":650,"attrs":677,"content":678},{"level":652,"textAlign":49},[679],{"text":680,"type":585},"Partnerships ",{"type":580,"attrs":682,"content":683},{"textAlign":49},[684],{"text":685,"type":585},"Partnerships with established projects, chemical partners or equipment suppliers is therefore going to be essential in accelerating the pathway to profitability for many. ",{"type":580,"attrs":687,"content":688},{"textAlign":49},[689],{"text":690,"type":585},"This is something the likes of Standard Lithium have addressed from the early stages of its Arkansas venture, working with German chemicals company Lanxess to access feedstock and then with Koch Industries to refine its DLE processing. ",{"type":580,"attrs":692,"content":693},{"textAlign":49},[694],{"text":695,"type":585},"The company’s commercial plant will process brine used by Lanxess to produce bromine just outside El Dorado. ",{"type":580,"attrs":697,"content":698},{"textAlign":49},[699],{"text":700,"type":585},"The planned commercial plant “marks the beginning of a series of lithium projects we’ve charted across the Smackover Formation, a region that’s been integral to the US energy sector for over a century,” Robert Mintak, chief executive of Standard Lithium, said. “Leveraging this vast reservoir of knowledge and the region’s culture of innovation, we aim to position the region as a significant contributor addressing the U.S.’s needs for sustainably produced lithium.”",{"type":580,"attrs":702,"content":703},{"textAlign":49},[704],{"text":705,"type":585},"The company is also targeting production of at least 30,000 tonnes a year of lithium hydroxide starting in 2027 at its South West Arkansas Project. It estimates it will cost $1.3 billion to build the project. ",{"type":580,"attrs":707,"content":708},{"textAlign":49},[709],{"text":710,"type":585},"The Smackover was the centre of Arkansas’ oil boom during the 1920s. The state still produces produces 4 million barrels of oil and 400 billion cubic feet of natural gas each year, according to Sanders. ","The governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has underlined the state’s ambitions to become a leading hub for the development of North America’s battery supply chain, emphasising the potential of new technology in advancing lithium prospects in legacy oil areas. The state is “moving at breakneck speed to become the lithium capital of America,” Sanders […]",[713],{"slug":568,"name":569,"content":714},{"job_title":571,"image":715,"bio":574,"linkedin":575},{"filename":573},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"bf3a520f-eb1d-4e90-94d3-01106eafcc54\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[719],{"slug":720,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":723,"name":723,"focus":723,"title":723,"source":723,"filename":724,"copyright":723,"fieldtype":725,"meta_data":726,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/3cf4c08315/bm-standard-lithium-koch.jpg","asset",{"alt":723,"title":723,"source":723,"copyright":723},"Sep 21, 2023","21st September 2023",[],[],1792773910406]