Posted on August 30, 2018

This map shows Standard Lithium's views about the potential production of lithium in South Arkansas.

Standard Lithium Ltd. said Tuesday that that laboratory results indicate high-quality lithium brines have been recovered from the Smackover Formation from the company’s project area in Southwest Arkansas.

Four brine samples recovered from two existing wells in the project area showed lithium concentrations ranging between 347–461 mg/L lithium, with an average of 450 mg/L lithium in one of the wells, and 350 mg/L in the other.

Dr. Andy Robinson, president and COO of Standard Lithium, said, “The latest brine data from the Smackover Formation are an excellent demonstration of the quality of lithium brine available to the company at their projects in southwest Arkansas. We are now at the point where we’ve completed all geological modelling of our project area in Lafayette and Columbia counties, and with these recent geochemical data, we are putting the finishing touches to our maiden resource report and hope to be able to release the report describing this important resource in the near future.”

The brines were sampled from preexisting oil and gas wells that had been previously drilled into the Smackover Formation, and were completed at depths of approximately 9,300 feet below ground level. Some historical infrastructure (production tubing, packers etc.) was removed from the two holes, and new production tubing was installed in the wells to allow for sampling. Other than this minimal work, the wells were found to be in good condition, were perforated in the correct zone for brine production (the “Reynolds Unit” within the Smackover Formation), and produced large volumes of brine from the formation using a readily-available workover rig. All work was completed by, and in partnership with, the oil and gas operator responsible for the wells.

Brine samples were sent to WETLAB Testing Laboratory in Sparks Nevada for full brine analysis.

Robert Mintak, CEO of Standard Lithium, said, “The recent sampling results confirm our development strategy of acquiring assets with substantial data and existing infrastructure, as we were able to complete this work program at minimal cost to the company and shareholders. With our key agreements and partnerships in place, a maiden resource report and a demonstration plant on the horizon, we believe the company’s southern Arkansas projects are set to play a leading role in the next wave of lithium producers.”

The Canadian company is engaged in the testing and proving of the commercial viability of lithium extraction from more than 150,000 acres of permitted brine operations in South Arkansas, utilizing the company’s proprietary selective extraction technology. The company is also pursuing the resource development of over 30,000 acres of separate brine leases located in southwestern Arkansas.

In June, the company said it had commissioned Saltworks Technologies Inc. to design and build a selective crystallization plant to make battery-grade lithium carbonate in a continuous process in El Dorado.

The crystallization plant will be automated and will utilize machine-learning to optimize the crystallization conditions. The selective crystallization plant will be designed, built and tested in Vancouver and will then be deployed at the company’s pilot plant location in Union County.