The researchers wrote in a paper: recent articles Arkansas has the potential for 19 million tons of lithium, which is used in rechargeable batteries for critical products such as phones and electric vehicles.
In a paper published last month in the journal Science Advances, the researchers calculated that 5.1 million to 19 million tons of lithium is present in the brine of the Smackover Formation in southern Arkansas, which is “It accounts for 35% to 136% of current U.S. lithium resources,” he said. estimate. “
According to Monday freedom from According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), “The Smackover Formation is a vast, porous, permeable limestone formation that underlies parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. “It is a relic of an ancient sea that has left behind geological units.”
lithium, what is labeled It is designated as a critical mineral by the USGS and is often obtained by evaporation from salt water or salt flats. The International Energy Agency predicts that demand for lithium could increase more than 40 times by 2040.
According to the article, researchers used a machine learning model trained on “publicly available and newly collected brine lithium concentration data” to “determine lithium concentrations in brine in the Smackover Formation throughout southern Arkansas. The company has created a “prediction map.”
The findings in this article are the result of research by both the USGS and the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment's Office of the State Geologist, according to a USGS release.
“Lithium is a critical mineral for the energy transition, and the potential for increased U.S. production to replace imports has implications for jobs, manufacturing, and supply chain resiliency. It shows the value of science in addressing problems,” USGS Director David Applegate said in a release.
