Albemarle Corp.

Michael Lutgring will play a key role in the company's leadership as it moves forward with plans to build a $1.3 billion plant near Lewisville. read more >

State regulators set a 2.5% royalty rate for lithium, clearing the way for Standard Lithium’s $1.5 billion project and a new energy era in south Arkansas. read more >

The commission disregarded an administrative law judge’s recommendation to consider dropping Albemarle from the application. read more >

Until recently, only bromine has been refined profitably from the brine running deep below the surface of the Smackover Limestone Formation. But as lithium became a more valuable mineral, companies have been racing to lead a new direct lithium extraction industry. read more >

Five big players in south Arkansas’ emerging lithium industry are proposing a royalty rate for mineral rights owners, but they may have to dig a little deeper. read more >

Robert Reynolds gives a living history of the oil and gas industry in south Arkansas, where the roots of his pioneer family reach back six generations. read more >

The lithium race, like the boom that followed drillers striking oil in the Smackover Formation a century ago, could transform Magnolia, El Dorado and the entire region. read more >

South Arkansas offers advantages beyond its mineral-rich underground water, Standard Lithium Ltd. CEO Robert Mintak says. read more >

Standard Lithium announces results from its preliminary study of the feasibility of a $1.27 billion lithium production project in southwest Arkansas. read more >

Another encouraging sign that a new industry could be at hand in south Arkansas. read more >

The company expects the project to create 250 construction jobs and a result in a 15% increase in total jobs at the two facilities. read more >

The trove may hold enough lithium to produce batteries for 50 million electric cars, Galvanic President & CEO Brent Wilson told Arkansas Business. read more >

While Standard Lithium expanding its reach for brine in South Arkansas, Murphy Oil Corp. is noting that it also has brine fields near El Dorado, but no active plans to exploit them. read more >

Robert Mintak, the crisp and precise CEO of Standard Lithium LLC, has been on a public relations tour that’s anything but standard, promoting south Arkansas’ lithium resources from 3,500 miles away. read more >

South Arkansas’ dreams for a high-tech lithium mining industry are looking more real this month, with a Canadian company starting designs for a large-scale commercial extraction plant. read more >

Bill Sowell of Sowell Management and Larry Freeman of Synergy Saturday Inc. won executive of the year awards, and Wallace Fowler was honored for his lifetime of leadership at the 32nd annual Arkansas Business of the Year Awards. read more >

There’s something in the water in south Arkansas, and a Canadian company is moving in with a new way to get it out, and eventually into cellphone batteries, laptop computers and electric cars. read more >