-- Standard Lithium (SLI.V) said Wednesday that its demonstration plant in El Dorado, Arkansas, reached several operational milestones.
The company said the facility has processed 1 million barrels of real brine, pumped in real-time from the Smackover Formation.
The core direct lithium extraction technology that will be used at the South West Arkansas project has successfully completed over 15,000 cycles, demonstrating the fundamental performance targets of over 95% lithium recovery and over 99% rejection of key contaminants, the company said.
Standard Lithium added that a team of operators, technicians, laboratory specialists and engineers have completed roughly 340,000 man hours during the six years of operation with zero incidents.
"Processing and analyzing such large volumes of live lithium brine provides a unique and robust data set that supports the scalability and de-risking of our selected process technology," President and Chief Operating Officer Andy Robinson said. "It also strengthens our first mover advantage in the Smackover Formation, having the only shovel-ready project in the area preparing to take a final investment decision."