Mining Intelligence and News
United States

South West Arkansas Project

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Categories

Summary

Mine TypeIn-Situ
Study CompletedPrefeasibility
Study in ProgressFeasibility
Commodities
  • Lithium
Mining Method
  • Brine mining
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SnapshotThe South West Arkansas Project brine lease area has been historically drilled for oil and gas exploration, and approximately 2,041 exploration and production wells have been completed in the Smackover Formation in or immediately adjacent to the Company’s lease area. A portion of these wells had available petro-physical logs of the Smackover Formation brine-bearing zone.

On September 20, 2024, Standard Lithium announced that the South West Arkansas Project’s design was being updated from its original PFS (2023), and to be developed in two phases of 22,500 tons each. The Definitive Feasibility Study and Front-End Engineering Study (FEED) study are underway to support this expansion.

On October 28, 2024, SWA Lithium, which is developing the South West Arkansas Project, announced that it had entered into a license agreement with Koch Technology Solutions (KTS) to deploy and use KTS’ Li-Pro LSS technology at the JV’s commercial plant for the South West Arkansas Phase 1 Project.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Equinor ASA 45 % Indirect
Standard Lithium Ltd. 55 % Indirect
The South West Arkansas Project is held by SWA Lithium LLC at 55% ownership stake, and Equinor retains a 45% ownership stake.

SWA Lithium Holdings LLC is the JV between Standard Lithium and Equinor, which is developing the South West Arkansas Project.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Brine

Summary:

The SWA Property lithium deposit is a confined brine deposit in the form of a lithium-bearing brine contained within the porosity of the Smackover Formation within the SWA Property boundaries. The Smackover formation in southern Arkansas has proven to be a prolific source of mineral resources, beginning with oil and gas, then transitioning to bromine, with lithium now an attractive development target. Bromine brine production from the Smackover Formation is extensive in Union and Columbia counties, to the east of the SWA Property.

Deposit Type
Lithium is extracted today from either mineral deposits (often from pegmatite deposits containing the lithium-rich mineral spodumene) or brine deposits. Brine deposits can either be unconfined in salars, where lithium has been concentrated by the surface evaporation of water from lithium-bearing brine or confined in underground brine-bearing formations. The SWA Property lithium deposit is a confined brine deposit in the form of a lithium-bearing brine contained within the porosity of the Smackover Formation within the SWA Property boundaries. The Smackover formation in southern Arkansas has proven to be a prolific source of mineral resources, beginning with oil and gas, then transitioning to bromine, with lithium now an attractive development target. Bromine brine production from the Smackover Formation is extensive in Union and Columbia counties, to the east of the SWA Property.

Geological Setting and Mineralization
The lithium concentration exhibited by the Smackover Formation brine varies throughout the Property. The depth of the top of the Smackover in the Property area generally dips from north-northeast to south-southwest and varies in depth from approximately 7,600 feet (2,316 meters) subsea to approximately 9,100 feet (2,773 meters) subsea. The reservoir structure is not by itself an important factor in brine production because the similar density of injected and produced brines minimizes the influence of gravity on fluid flow in the reservoir. There is an east-west fault near the center of the SWA Property (the Brown Fault) and three more east-west faults along the southern edge of the SWA Property.

The lithium brine-bearing Upper Smackover Interval is overlain by the Buckner Formation, which in Arkansas is dominated by red shale in the upper part and anhydrite in the lower part above the Smackover carbonates, and, as a result of its low permeability, acts as a geologic seal which traps oil and gas. The dense, low-permeability carbonate of the Lower Smackover Interval is underlain by the clastic section of the Norphlet Formation. The Norphlet Formation is comprised of red and gray clays with varying amounts of intercalated sands and occasional gravels.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Commodity Production

CommodityUnitsAvg. Annual
LiOH-H2O t 30,000
All production numbers are expressed as crystals.

Operational metrics

Metrics
Hourly brine extraction  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2023 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
Cash costs LiOH-H2O USD  ....  Subscribe
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) LiOH-H2O USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price LiOH-H2O USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2023 study / presentation.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Sustaining CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Total CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Royalty payments $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Gross revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe
After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe
After-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 30, 2025
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 8, 2023
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....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 30, 2025
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 30, 2025

Workforce

EmployeesYear
...... Subscription required 2023

Aerial view:

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