Smackover Lithium, a partnership between Standard Lithium (SLI.V) and Equinor, entered Thursday into an engineering, procurement and construction management agreement with Wood Group USA focused on the upstream well field portion of the South West Arkansas project.
The well field for the SWA project comprises four well pads supporting 12 supply and 10 injection wells, brine gathering and return pipelines from the well pads to the Central Processing Facility (CPF), and a gas gathering system from the well pads to a disposal well in the area, according to Thursday's news release.
Wood will deliver EPCM services for the well field surface facilities including well pads, pipelines and related third-party interfaces. The scope includes project support services for the subsurface, drilling and wells activities, the statement said.
A separate engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) agreement will be signed with a different counterparty for the CPF which includes the direct lithium extraction process and conversion to battery-quality lithium carbonate. The EPCC agreement is also expected to be completed in the second quarter, Thursday's statement added.
The SWA project is designed to produce 22,500 tonnes per year of battery-quality lithium carbonate production in its initial phase, the partners said, before adding: he agreement includes a Limited Notice to Proceed that allows work to continue on key activities to de-risk the project and optimize the construction schedule. Wood is expected to be engaged on a Full Notice to Proceed following a positive final investment decision, expected to occur within the year.