THE SMACKOVER FORMATION
An extensive, porous, and permeable limestone aquifer extending from central Texas to the Florida panhandle. One hundred years of resource development, 60+ years of commercial brine operations for bromine production, and the highest reported lithium in brine values in North America make the Smackover a promising lithium production powerhouse with room to scale.
The Company’s flagship projects: the Lanxess Project and the South West Arkansas Project, are located in Southern Arkansas near the Louisiana border.
For over 100 years, the Smackover Formation in the southern-U.S. has played an important role in America’s conventional energy economy. Since the 1950’s brines pumped from the Smackover Formation in South Arkansas have been used for the recovery of bromine. (Arkansas is the world’s second largest producer of bromine). That same bromine rich brine has commercial lithium concentrations. Standard Lithium has developed a fully integrated, start to finish, Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) process to selectively extract lithium from Smackover brine and produce battery quality lithium compounds.
Arkansas is a business-friendly environment with a rich history of chemical and energy production, a deep talent pool and is close in proximity to many major markets. Many of the chemical inputs (reagents) required for lithium extraction are produced within driving distance of the projects. The local university and community college offer programs in related engineering and chemical processing fields. The projects are supplied with locally produced low-cost power, ample water and have access to roads and rail.
The projects have significant community and stakeholder support, a social license to operate in a region familiar with extractive industries.
- Region is home to a large scale commercial brine processing industry, 60+ years of operations.
- One of the world’s largest sources of bromine, a mature regulatory framework exists for brine production and re-injection.
- Extensive, porous, and permeable limestone aquifer that hosts vast volumes of mineral rich brine.
- Geological data from thousands of wells demonstrates formation homogeneity in thickness, continuity, and chemistry.
THE LANXESS PROJECT
One of the industry’s most advanced and advantaged projects.
The Lanxess project is a multi-phase project, under development in a partnership with specialty chemical company LANXESS Corp. (LANXESS), operators of Arkansas largest brine processing facilities. Standard Lithium has entered in a series of agreements with LANXESS, that allow Standard Lithium to leverage the existing, permitted processing infrastructure of the LANXESS South Arkansas operations to develop a commercial lithium business. An amended and restated commercial agreement was signed with LANXESS in February 2022 (Link to press release).
LEADERS IN RESPONSIBLE LITHIUM EXTRACTION TECHNOLOGIES
Our Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) process innovatively applies proprietary, tested, and scalable technologies designed to selectively extract lithium from the mineral-rich Smackover brine with a smaller environmental foot print, higher efficiency, and a consistent final purity than traditional evaporative processes.
Standard Lithium has been operating an industrial-scale fully integrated DLE demonstration plant at the LANXESS South facility since May 2020.
PROJECT KEY HIGHLIGHTS:
- Brownfield projects eliminate and reduces many of the risks associated with conventional mining projects
- 150k+ acres of unitized brine leases, 3.14 Million tonne lithium resource measured as LCE1
- Target annual production of 20,900 tonnes battery quality Lithium Carbonate1
- After tax NPV of $989.4 Million1
- Three permitted operating brine processing facilities, over 200 miles of pipelines, 64 production and re-injection wells process 4+billion gallons of brine annually
- Paved road, rail, water, power on site – minimizing required new project infrastructure provides fewer avenues for capital overruns
- Off-take arrangement for up to 100% of all Lithium Carbonate produced from project with LANXESS
- Phased build strategy across the three operating brine processing facilities
- Definitive Feasibility Study and Full Front End Engineering Study underway for phase 1A (link to press release)
A Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) was published on the Lanxess Project by Worley Parsons in August 2019 (Link to press release) (Link to full PEA technical report).
A Definitive Feasibility Study and Full Front End Engineering Study for the first commercial lithium plant (Phase 1A) was awarded to Optimized Process Design (OPD), a Koch Engineered Solutions business specializing in engineering, procurement, fabrication, and construction of commercial facilities. Both studies are expected to be completed during the first half of 2023.
THE SOUTH WEST ARKANSAS PROJECT
The South West Arkansas Project is located approximately 25 miles west of the Lanxess Project and will benefit from much of the same existing local infrastructure, such as water, power, gas, road, rail, and workforce. In addition, there are extensive existing operating oil, and gas assets, including wells, collection systems, easements, and gas processing facilities.
PROJECT KEY HIGHLIGHTS:
- Preliminary Economic Assessment November 2022 (link to press release) (link to full technical report)
- 36,000+ acres of unitized brine leases, 1.195 Million tonne lithium resource measured as LCE2
- Target annual production of 30,000 tonnes battery quality Lithium Hydroxide2
- After tax NPV of $1.9 Billion2
- Well characterized geology, with extensive data including 2,400+ wells drilled in the general South West Project property area
- Significant existing regional infrastructure including, road, rail, power, water, skilled labor
- Preliminary Feasibility Study underway (link to press release).
Notes:
[1] Source Lanxess Preliminary Economic Assessment August 2019; all model outputs are expressed on a 100% project ownership basis. The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes indicated resources that are considered too speculative to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves and there is no certainty the estimates presented in the PEA will be realized.
[2] Source South West Arkansas Preliminary Economic Assessment November 2022; all model outputs are expressed on a 100% project ownership basis. The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred resources that are considered too speculative to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves and there is no certainty the estimates presented in the PEA will be realized.