South West Arkansas (SWA) DLE Project by Standard Lithium: status and timeline

South West Arkansas (SWA) DLE Project

A 22,500 tpa DLE facility in Arkansas extracting lithium from Smackover Formation brine using LiSTR technology with Equinor.

PilotStage 3 of 5

EPCC and EPCM contracts signed; DOE grant closed Jan 2025; FID expected 2026; first production 2029.

Checked 10 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · Final investment decision

Demonstration plant commissioned2021Complete.
Processed 1 million barrels in demonstration2025Complete.
NEPA environmental review completed2026Complete.
EPCC contract with S&B Engineers for Central Processing Facility2026Complete.
EPCM contract with Wood Group USA for upstream well field2026Complete.
Final investment decisionTarget 2026Not yet reached.
Construction beginsTarget 2026Not yet reached.
First commercial productionTarget 2029Not yet reached.

Upcoming

2026Final investment decision (next)
2026Construction begins
2029First commercial production

Current obstacles

Scale-up from demonstration to 22,500 tpaFirst commercial facility must be 10x larger than the demonstration plant, requiring new process engineering and operational procedures.
Regional brine chemistry variationThe 30,000-acre project area contains brine with varying lithium concentrations and ionic composition, requiring adaptive processing.

Physics limits

Lithium concentration in Smackover brineThe Smackover Formation contains lower lithium concentrations than some salt lakes, requiring higher throughput for the same lithium output.
Geothermal gradient and brine temperatureDeep formation temperature and brine chemistry constrain the chemistry and kinetics of selective extraction.

How it works

3 parts

Brine source

Smackover Formation brine

Lithium-bearing brine from deep geologic formations is extracted from wells in conjunction with existing bromine production.

Extraction

LiSTR direct lithium extraction

Koch's proprietary LiSTR technology selectively extracts lithium from the brine, proven over 15,000 cycles in the demonstration plant.

Product

Battery-grade lithium carbonate

Recovered lithium is converted to battery-grade lithium carbonate for EV battery manufacturing.

Spec sheet

Spec	South West Arkansas (SWA) DLE Project
Phase 1 design capacity	22,500 tpa^R (reported)
Barrels processed (demonstration plant)	1,000,000+^R (reported)
DLE cycles completed (demonstration)	15,000+^R (reported)
Project operating life	20+ years^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

About Standard Lithium

The team behind South West Arkansas (SWA) DLE Project

Standard Lithium

Direct lithium extraction, DLE, Arkansas, Equinor partnership

Standard Lithium develops DLE for Smackover Formation brine in Arkansas. Equinor holds 45% of project companies. A $225M DOE grant supports construction for 22,500 tpa production by 2029.

Standard Lithium's South West Arkansas DLE project targets 22,500 tpa of battery-grade lithium carbonate, first production 2029.
The company closed a $225M DOE grant in January 2025 and has secured EPCC and EPCM contracts for construction.
Equinor's 45% partnership brings extraction expertise and production scale experience from decades of energy operations.

standardlithium.com (opens standardlithium.com)Company profile →

Founded: 201115 yrs
Headquarters: Canada
Status: Public
Valuation: public
Raised: $485M3 rounds
Last round: DOE grant (closed) · $225MJan 2025
Works in: MaterialsLithium & critical minerals
Coverage: 1 program · 0 updateschecked 10 Oct
Lead investors: EquinorKoch Industries
Partners: EquinorLANXESS Corporation
Investors: Koch Industries
People: David ParkChief Executive Officer

Spec

South West Arkansas (SWA) DLE Project

Phase 1 design capacity

22,500 tpa^R (reported)

Barrels processed (demonstration plant)

1,000,000+^R (reported)

DLE cycles completed (demonstration)

15,000+^R (reported)

Project operating life

20+ years^R (reported)