- Lithium in a Smackover Formation could provide nine times the global demand for EV batteries
- The lithium deposits could be the key to U.S. battery production
- Lithium mining was extensive in North Carolina until the 1980s
A lithium deposit located in southwestern Arkansas could hold enough of the metal to satisfy global EV battery demand nine times over, according to a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)-led study.
The study, based on water testing and machine-learning analysis, estimates between five million and 19 million tons of lithium in the Smackover Formation. Even the low-end estimate is equivalent to more than nine times the global demand for lithium use in EV batteries in 2030, as currently estimated by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the USGS notes.
Smackover Formation identified as a potential U.S. lithium source (via USGS)
Also extending under parts of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, the…
