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Firm Claims Texas Well Holds Highest Lithium Concentrations in North America
Posted on 11/6/23 at 12:46 pm
Posted on 11/6/23 at 12:46 pm
quote:
Standard Lithium reported this week that its drilling program in east Texas discovered significant concentrations of lithium-grade brine. Independent testing of wellbore fluid samples taken from an upper bench of the targeted Smackover formation registered a lithium concentration of 806 mg/L, a level that the mineral exploration company said it believes represents a new North American record.
The discovery is part of a three-well project that Standard Lithium said suggests there is “an increasing trend” of subsurface lithium concentrations moving west from Arkansas, which up to now, has been the center of efforts to extract mineral-rich brine from the Smackover. While still in a pre-commercial phase, these companies are all angling to become significant suppliers of a US-based battery manufacturing supply chain that is expected to emerge in the coming years alongside the rise of electric vehicle adoption.
Andy Robinson, president and chief operating officer of Standard Lithium, described the east Texas area, with an average grade of 644 mg/L, as a "globally significant lithium brine asset."
According to data shared by Standard Lithium, the average lithium concentrations reported by other project developers in Alberta and Nevada are 75 mg/L and 123 mg/L, respectively.
quote:
Standard Lithium, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, said it plans to reach a final investment decision next year on a $365 million facility capable of yielding an average of 5,400 tonnes annually of battery-quality lithium carbonate. The project would be the company's first commercial development, using wells with an average lithium concentration of 217 mg/L.
A subsequent proposed project in Arkansas is expected to produce at least 30,000 tonnes of battery-quality lithium hydroxide annually with an average lithium grade of 437 mg/L.
Given the parallels with oil and gas extraction, several large US upstream companies have recently signaled their interest in lithium brine recovery. ExxonMobil stands out as the biggest among them.
In July, during an investor conference, ExxonMobil’s CEO confirmed the company is actively pursuing business opportunities within the nascent sector. The statement followed media reports that the Houston-based supermajor discreetly acquired a lithium extraction company operating in Arkansas for $100 million before forming a production agreement with another.
LINK
I have no idea what these production and concentration numbers mean in real terms have how many EV batteries can be constructed from these amounts. However, it will be pretty interesting and hopefully have a positive environmental impact if lithium can be mined economically in a manner that looks more like an oil & gas drilling operation as opposed to large, huge opened mines, many of which use child labor and have horrible working conditions.
Having someone like Exxon helping lead the way in the drilling segment should help.
quote:
US firms are less keen on charging and more interested in doing what they do best: getting raw materials out of the ground, On said. Exxon Mobil bought up 120,000 acres of land in Arkansas earlier this year with plans to extract and process lithium, a key material in lithium-ion EV batteries, The Journal reported. Chevron is also considering lithium mining.
LINK
Posted on 11/6/23 at 12:51 pm to ragincajun03
SmackoverHawg fixing to EAT......
Posted on 11/6/23 at 12:51 pm to ragincajun03
quote:
30,000 tonnes of battery-quality lithium hydroxide annually with an average lithium grade of 437 mg/L
now we know why they've been funneling illegals across the border. gonna need a lot of cheap labor to mine all that.
Posted on 11/6/23 at 12:52 pm to ragincajun03
this was posted on here not too long ago but thanks for the reminder, going to look up Lithium mining company stocks
Posted on 11/6/23 at 12:52 pm to BayouBandit24
quote:
Truck nuts [ON] OFF
If this takes off in the Smackover area as something that is economically viable, then it could mean typical oilfield related jobs for folks in East TX, LA and AR who would rather not speed weeks at a time out in the Permian desert.
Posted on 11/6/23 at 12:56 pm to ragincajun03
You mean something like the Haynesville?
Posted on 11/6/23 at 12:58 pm to ragincajun03
quote:
so apologies for a duplicate.
none needed, it didn't get a lot of response when it was previously posted and I completely forgot about it, thanks
Posted on 11/6/23 at 1:09 pm to John Coctostan
quote:
You mean something like the Haynesville?
Kind of tough to tell at this point. I'd be completely shocked, though, if we saw a Haynesville type frenzy duplicated for these lithium drilling and production operations.
It does mean jobs for the region if this pans out to be even somewhat economically reliable.
Posted on 11/6/23 at 1:17 pm to Corinthians420
quote:
now we know why they've been funneling illegals across the border. gonna need a lot of cheap labor to mine all that.
I know nothing about the extraction methods but I would think they are looking at in situ methods.
Posted on 11/6/23 at 1:17 pm to ragincajun03
Koch Industries is the largest investor in Standard Lithium. They generally know what they are doing.
Posted on 11/6/23 at 1:26 pm to ragincajun03
quote:
If this takes off in the Smackover area as something that is economically viable, then it could mean typical oilfield related jobs for folks in East TX, LA and AR who would rather not speed weeks at a time out in the Permian desert.
Unfortunately for Louisiana, even though the heart of the Smackover formation runs through North Louisiana, the Lithium concentrations within the formation appear to be located in East Texas and southern Arkansas.
Posted on 11/6/23 at 1:32 pm to ragincajun03
They found an unholy shite ton of it in some dead volcano somewhere. It's everywhere. The purity part is the issue. Also the refining process takes a considerable amount of surface area for ponds. One "spill" and the tree huggers are gonna go berserk. I'll be glad to see some of these mines actually start producing.
Posted on 11/6/23 at 1:36 pm to ragincajun03
In before exploration is shut down by the Biden administration to protect the interests of other countries.
Posted on 11/6/23 at 1:37 pm to ragincajun03
time to import some congolese children STAT
Posted on 11/6/23 at 1:38 pm to Gee Grenouille
Having suffered since the stlhf days, SLI's process is self contained, no ponds, no heavy equipment, just a well for feeding the DLE extraction line and another for re-injection of the (cleaner) water back into the aquifer.
Posted on 11/6/23 at 1:41 pm to Corinthians420
quote:
now we know why they've been funneling illegals across the border. gonna need a lot of cheap labor to mine all that.
Yeah, but not seeing many African children coming over. They have all the experience.
Posted on 11/6/23 at 1:51 pm to Wraytex
quote:
Having suffered since the stlhf days, SLI's process is self contained, no ponds, no heavy equipment, just a well for feeding the DLE extraction line and another for re-injection of the (cleaner) water back into the aquifer.
This is what I was alluding to with my ‘in situ” comment and is along the lines of the type of extraction I would expect. Makes sense. Thanks for sharing.
Any idea the number of well clusters it would take to get a decent amount of material to the surface?
Posted on 11/6/23 at 1:54 pm to Ghost of Colby
quote:
Unfortunately for Louisiana, even though the heart of the Smackover formation runs through North Louisiana, the Lithium concentrations within the formation appear to be located in East Texas and southern Arkansas.
That sucks. Strip mining NLA would be a huge improvement.
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