Lithium Mining In Arkansas | Abbi Clifton
Lithium mining is the new "gold rush" and mining companies have set up shop in The Natural State.
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson recently attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony unveiling free electric vehicle public charging stations in Arkansas.
A Canada-based company called Standard Lithium developed the charging stations in partnership with Entergy, Adopt a Charger, and South Arkansas Community College, according to a press release. The chargers are located in El Dorado, Arkansas.
Standard Lithium’s company website stated that their plant is “engaged in the testing and proving of the commercial viability of lithium extraction from over 150,000 acres of permitted brine operations.”
The website further explained that the plant uses “the Company’s proprietary LiSTR technology to selectively extract lithium from LANXESS’ tailbrine.”
Standard Lithium describes their south Arkansas plant as a “proof-of-concept” that their operations are commercially feasible. The company also stated that the plant is “scalable” and “environmentally friendly” because it does not use evaporation ponds which decreases processing time from months to hours and “ increases the effective recovery of lithium,” according to their company website.
The site stated that they utilize “Direct Lithium extraction technology” which differs from traditional mining methods such as hard rock mining, and methods which require thousands of acres for brine pools.
Direct Lithium extraction is a “proprietary process” which uses “a solid ceramic adsorbent material with a crystal lattice that is capable of selectively pulling lithium ions from the Smackover brine. The ceramic adsorbent materials are mounted in stirred-tank reactors that contain the tail brine. In the second step, the adsorbent releases the lithium for recovery,” according to Standard Lithium.
“The company is also pursuing the resource development of over 30,000 acres of separate brine leases located in southwestern Arkansas and approximately 45,000 acres of mineral leases located in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California,” the company’s website stated.
Lithium is commonly used for making batteries especially for electric vehicles (EVs), but the mineral has other uses, including use for pharmaceuticals, polymers, and metallurgy, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Lithium was first mined in the U.S. in South Dakota in the late 1800’s, and in North Carolina. The U.S. government in 2018 restricted lithium mining to only one mine now located in Nevada, the USGS stated.
Today, the U.S. primarily imports the mineral from Chile and Argentina to meet demand. However, lithium deposits have been found across the U.S., especially in Arkansas, California, Nevada, North Carolina, and Utah, according to the USGS.
President Biden issued an executive order (EO) in Feb. 2021 for the purposes of securing America’s supply chains. The order stated that “close cooperation on resilient supply chains with allies and partners who share our values will foster collective economic and national security and strengthen the capacity to respond to international disasters and emergencies.”
A fact-sheet on the EO from the White House listed lithium as an example of these minerals. The EO would “better leverage our sizable lithium reserves and manufacturing know-how to expand domestic battery production,” according to the fact-sheet.
The Biden Admin. will “work with U.S. partners and allies to ensure that they too have strong and resilient supply chains,” the fact-sheet stated.
The EO said “outside stakeholders” including industry, academia, non-governmental organizations, businesses, tribal, state and local governments, and others should be consulted in the process.
The Secretary of Defense is responsible for “identifying risks in the supply chain for critical minerals and other identified strategic materials, including rare earth elements.” These specific materials would also be determined by the Secretary of Defense, according to the EO.
Lithium mining companies and the government faced lawsuits over environmental concerns including soil contamination and water contamination.
Edward Bartell, a Nevada rancher, brought a lawsuit in 2021 against U.S. regulators over the approval of the Thacker Pass lithium mine which he said violated environmental laws, according to AP. The lawsuit stated that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) acknowledged in its environmental impact statement that “modifications to existing water rights, the potential for mine-related groundwater aquifer drawdown, contamination of groundwater from unintended materials releases (spills) and the potential for adverse effects to groundwater,” AP reported.
Conservationists previously alleged that rare flowers found nowhere else on earth died due to the lithium mining in Nevada, Reuters reported.
Native American tribes also brought a lawsuit against the Vancouver, Canada company Lithium Americas Corp attempting to halt excavation work at the Nevada lithium mine site, according to Reuters. The tribes said that they believed the site held ancestral bones and artifacts. However, a U.S. federal judge ruled that the company could continue their work, Reuters reported.
Lithium mining is the new “gold rush” as the U.S., European Union, China, and others embrace “green energy” economies.
