A ‘geologic freak’ called the Smackover may end America’s lithium dependence on China, and Big Oil is already there

Detailed summary

Standard Lithium, EnergyX, Exxon and Chevron are betting direct lithium extraction can turn the Smackover into a domestic supply hub and cut the U.S. reliance on China.

Global lithium demand has jumped more than 400% just this decade, to over 1.5 million metric tons per year. By 2035, that demand could approach 4 million tons. Lithium-ion battery demand for electric vehicles, utility-scale and data center energy storage, and the emerging robotics industry are all driving the growth.

The problem is the U.S. produces little more than 1% of the world’s lithium supplies, largely from Albemarle’s Silver Peak mine in Nevada. The world relies primarily on China for refining, as it does for many other critical minerals and rare earths.

That may be about to change. About 1,500 miles from Silver Peak lies the oddly named Smackover Formation in southern Arkansas and East Texas. Crude oil was discovered there a century ago. Now industry is fixated on its unusually large lithium concentrations in its massive underground aquifer.

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