Overview
- Standard Lithium and Equinor’s Smackover Lithium will supply LG Energy Solution with 8,000 metric tonnes of battery-quality lithium carbonate per year under a binding 10-year contract announced Monday, August 31.
- The material is slated to come from the South West Arkansas project and will be produced using direct lithium extraction (DLE) followed by purification, a method that extracts lithium from brine with a smaller land footprint than pond evaporation.
- Standard Lithium says the LG deal, combined with an earlier Trafigura agreement, now commits roughly 80–90% of the project’s initial 24,800 tonnes per year nameplate capacity and positions the developers to seek project financing and a Final Investment Decision.
- LG Energy Solution will use the U.S. supply to feed its North American LFP battery production across its domestic plants, a move companies say helps meet U.S. sourcing rules that limit purchases from Prohibited Foreign Entities.
- If construction begins after financing as targeted in 2026, first commercial production could start in 2029, a schedule that could expand U.S. battery supply, create local jobs in Arkansas, and reduce reliance on overseas lithium sources.