Standard Lithium Marks Commencement of Operations at Arkansas Plant With a Virtual Ribbon Cutting Ceremony - Seite 2

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson commented, “In the two short years since Patty Cardin of LANXESS introduced me to the team of Andy Robinson and Robert Mintak of Standard Lithium, the company has moved from a big concept to building a working industrial scale demonstration plant for direct lithium extraction. This cutting-edge disruptive technology has the potential to put Arkansas on the global map for lithium, a critical mineral for the United States economy.”

Senator John Boozman stated, “It’s certainly a pleasure for me to congratulate Standard Lithium as we celebrate the launch of operations in Arkansas. I admire the vision and persistence of company leaders who work so hard through the unique challenges we are facing today to become fully operational. Standard Lithium’s investment will benefit the community, the region and the state of Arkansas.”

Senator Tom Cotton commented, “This is a cutting-edge project that could one day make America a leading producer of lithium and that’s no small matter because the lithium produced by this plant will power the products of advanced industries from smart phones to electric cars.”

Representative Bruce Westerman stated, “I’m very excited about this as well as everyone else should be because we are going to be making high quality lithium from Arkansas, a product that is in huge demand as we become more electrified around the world and in our country.”

The first-of-its-kind in the world Direct Lithium Extraction plant is installed at the Company’s project partner LANXESS’ South Plant facility near El Dorado, Arkansas. LiSTR is an environmentally friendly technology that selectively extracts lithium ions from tail brine that is a by-product of existing bromine production facilities run by LANXESS in south Arkansas. When compared to the conventional methods for recovering lithium from brine, the LiSTR process provides many benefits:

• Vastly reduced recovery time - several hours versus as long as a year;
• Significant efficiency gains - 90% recovery versus 40-60%;
• Improved purity of the final product;
• Unlocking of unconventional resources - Arkansas Smackover brines.

Planning for the project’s phased commercial development – with a target initial annual production of 20,900 tonnes of battery-quality lithium chemicals, roughly five times the current domestic production – is currently underway.