El Dorado has been known as Arkansas’ Original Boomtown since it ushered in a major oil boom a century ago. Soon, that name could change to something like Arkansas’ Newest Boomtown, as the lithium industry finds a foothold in south Arkansas.
Standard Lithium, since 2020, has been testing a novel direct lithium extraction technology developed by Koch Technology Solutions. SLi partnered with Lanxess, an international chemical company, to integrate a commercial demonstration-scale DLE plant into the latter’s existing bromine production facility in El Dorado.
“We’ve been able to build a commercial demonstration plant that allowed us to test and optimize our DLE technology with Smackover brine in a true native setting – fresh brine right out of the ground in the exact environmental setting we will be operating in commercially,” says Jesse Edmondson, SLi head of government affairs.
The lithium extraction industry has had many “false starts” over the years, Edmondson says, largely due to companies’ inabilities to test DLE technology at scale in environments like they’ll be operating in. He says SLi got the opportunity to learn “every excruciating detail” of its DLE process at the demonstration plant, a unique advancement in the industry.
“These are things that can’t be learned in a laboratory setting,” Edmondson says.
SLi’s DLE technology uses a proprietary adsorption material (sorbent) that selectively attracts lithium chloride ions (LiCl). The tail brine that’s a byproduct of Lanxess’ industrial processes is pumped through the sorbent, loading it with both lithium and chloride ions. The sorbent is then rinsed with water, producing a solution rich with LiCl.
The yield is then purified and converted to a battery-grade lithium hydroxide, a key component in high-performance lithium-ion batteries like the ones used in electric vehicles.
“We know for a fact that Arkansas is on the short list of at least half a dozen companies looking to build operations related to our supply chains,” Edmondson says. “Having a globally significant lithium resource … is very attractive to companies looking to where they will site their major operations.”
SLi’s South West Arkansas Project in April was the only DLE project in the country to be designated a Priority Transparency Critical Mineral Project by President Donald Trump’s administration. The company is currently working to establish royalty rates through the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission and plans to begin construction of a full-scale production plant in collaboration with Equinor in Lafayette County in 2026.
In five years, Edmondson said he hopes SLi has developed a global reputation as “one of the first new producers of battery-quality lithium in the U.S. in over 60 years … We significantly helped the U.S. detangle lithium supply chains from China, and … we did it the right way, in that our success was a win for the local communities in southwest Arkansas, for the state of Arkansas and for the USA.”
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