Arkansas Lithium Deposits - USGS

bee

AI is at its best when we utilized to solve problems such as these.

Using a combination of water testing and machine learning, a U.S. Geological Survey-led study estimated between 5 and 19 million tons of lithium reserves are located beneath southwestern Arkansas. If commercially recoverable, the amount of lithium present would meet projected 2030 world demand for lithium in car batteries nine times over.

Article:
unlocking-arkansas-hidden-treasure-usgs-uses-machine-learning-show-large

Indepth Article:
https://science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adp8149

Sven

Indeed that is a good news. Here is a map from USGS on lithium deposit in US.

https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5118/sir20175118_element.php?el=3

US is not a big producer of lithium, majority of lithium came from Chili and Argentina.

Old_Joe

I read an article a few days ago which said that the Arkansas "Smackover" lithium deposit could potentially supply all of the world's projected needs. However the difficulty will be in developing a method for economical recovery without destroying a big chunk of Arkansas.

Derf

I thought they were digging for lithium when I went through Little Rock a few weeks ago. Turns out it was road construction or destruction !!

BenWP

There is a lithium mine in Nevada which the company exploiting it claims could meet our needs. I think it’s still getting off the ground as site approval is only two years old.

https://lithiumamericas.com/thacker-pass/overview/default.aspx

Ever since lithium became “the latest sure-fire investment” about 3 years ago, the price of the substance has been on the express down elevator. M* doggedly still assigns a 5 star rating to Lithium Americas stock.

Sven

However the difficulty will be in developing a method for economical recovery without destroying a big chunk of Arkansas.

All mined minerals require extensive processing in order to convert the target material to a useful form for the consumers and industry. That is why the cost comes in.

The production cost of lithium precursors suitable for lithium-ion battery manufacturing is well understood by now. Question is what form the lithium minerals are and at what concentration that is economically to extract.

In the turn of the century, crude oil In large quantities was readily accessible near the surface in PA and the gulf coast. Refining these crude oils into gasoline and many other products were economical in large scale. In contrast, refining oils from Canadian tar sands is very different both from the economic and environmental point of view. Tar sand mining is similar to strip mining the surfaces analogous coal mining in the early days.