In 1925, nowhere in the United States produced more crude oil than the Smackover oil field in southern Arkansas. At the time, wildcatters flocked to the region in pursuit of liquid gold.
The boom was short-lived. But what industry left behind — salty brine water from oil drilling — could be the key to boosting domestic lithium production 100 years later.
That’s because a critical trove of lithium is located roughly 2 miles underground in southwestern Arkansas, containing between 5 and 19 million tons of reserves, according to a recent U.S. Geological Survey study. If this resource can be recovered commercially, it could power nine times the number of electric vehicles projected to be in demand globally in the year 2030…