Smackover Lithium, the joint venture working to directly extract battery-quality lithium products from Arkansas brine, has cleared the way to a final investment decision on building a $1.4 billion production facility near Lewisville.
The joint venture between Standard Lithium Ltd. of Canada and Equinor of Norway came closer to reality Tuesday when the company filed its definitive feasibility study on what it calls its South West Arkansas Project.
The study indicates that the planned plant in Lafayette County could produce 22,500 tons of battery-quality lithium carbonate per year over a 20-year operating life. It contemplates an “unlevered pretax internal return rate” of 20.2% and average cash operating costs of $4,516 per ton. Battery-quality lithium carbonate was selling for about $10,000 per ton before markets opened Tuesday.
The plant, on 118 acres seven miles south of Lewisville, would be the first commercial plant in the nation to directly extract lithium from underground brines. Southwest Arkansas’ brine fields have been piped to the surface to extract bromine for more than a half-century. The SWA project could also eventually exploit the brine for elements beyond lithium.
The joint venture said the project is now “ready to progress to a final investment decision.” That should come within months, and plant construction is expected to begin shortly afterward next year.
First commercial production projected for 2028.
Equinor is investing up to $160 million for a 45% share of the project, including $30 million upfront. Standard has a 55% stake.
In January, the U.S. Department of Energy approved $225 million in federal funding to support construction under the Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing Grants Program.
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