re: Diving deeper on Standard Lithium?

Exxon isn't offering a true 10% gross royalty. It's 10% less expenses related to transport, refining, marketing, etc. Who knows what that works out to with corporate accounting. But an interesting point is that Lithium only accounts for ~10% of the marketable value of the minerals in the brine. Ex: Na, Mg and Ca ions are worth considerably more if isolated via electrolysis/distillation given their concentration x spot of industrial grades in Shanghai. The E&P's maintain they're only interested in Lithium, potassium and bromine, but I have my doubts

Also that 10% assumes Exxon, or whoever markets the sourced minerals, sells them in an arms-length deal. I wouldn't be surprised if it's something like this: There are 2 operators partnered on the unit, one which might extract the bromine. The tail-end brine then gets traded like-kind with Albemarle or Dow for chemicals/products equivs needed for ops + a deal for a backend royalty carved out from the revenue generated when they chem cos market the end products, or selling crude brine at discount wellhead rates with an end-profit sharing deal in place

Oh and the lithium doesn't go for $15k/mt, Lithium Carbonate and Lithium Hydroxide are ~$13-15k/mt, but lithium is a small component in those compounds by mass, with the anion considered to contribute no value. Correcting for purity and stoichiometric coefficients, the lithium is actually ~$80,000/ton at current spot