Lithium is a key element of the world’s energy future. Lithium is used in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and grid-scale energy storage. A conservative estimate from Global Market Insights predicts energy storage and automotive lithium ion battery demand to double by 2024. So where is the supply going to come from? While many look abroad for sources of lithium, Standard Lithium is powering the future right here at home.
The Company’s flagship project, the 150,000+ acre “Lanxess Project”, is located in the prolific and productive Smackover brine region of southern Arkansas. By securing access to the strategic resource through agreements with the region’s largest commercial brine operator, Standard Lithium plans to leverage the extensive existing infrastructure and permits, to fast-track the projects’ development timelines.
Standard Lithium’s patent-pending direct lithium extraction process is the key to unlocking this strategic domestic critical mineral resource. The direct extraction process, known as “LiSTR” has the potential to vastly reduce the recovery time of extracting lithium from brine from as long as a year for conventional evaporation pond processing to just several hours. The process may also prove to be much more environmentally friendly with a significantly smaller footprint – compared to the conventional evaporation pond processes. An industrial scale pre-commercial demonstration plant testing program of this transformational technology is currently underway at the Arkansas project.