Companies Look to Arkansas for Lithium

Manufacturers are making significant investments in a potential new center of lithium mining: Arkansas (CNBC).

What’s going on: Companies including ExxonMobil are putting money into the Smackover Formation, a limestone aquifer in the southern U.S. with more than “4 million metric tons of lithium, which is enough to power millions of EVs and devices.”

• The investments—including ExxonMobil’s purchase of 120,000 acres in the formation and its “plans to start producing battery-grade lithium by 2027”—come as the worldwide appetite for lithium is increasing, bolstered by electric vehicles and energy-storage needs.
• Exxon says that by 2030, it will be producing enough lithium from the formation to supply more than a million EVs a year. 

Why it’s important: The U.S. produces less than 1% of global lithium supply, with most now coming from Australia, China and Chile, but “Arkansas could change that.”

The NAM’s view: “Tapping into our rich domestic sources of lithium is a critical part of the clean energy transition,” said NAM Director of Energy and Resources Policy Michael Davin. “We must make it easier for manufacturers to responsibly access these resources nationwide.”