Arkansas could be sitting on as much as 19 million tons of lithium, according to a new study from the United States Geological Survey. Federal and state researchers used water testing and machine learning to estimate the size of a vast underground saltwater reservoir in the southwest part of the state. Researchers say reserves beneath the "Smackover Formation" could be enough to meet the world demand for the metal 'nine times over'. Lithium is a critical component of electric vehicle batteries and is mostly extracted from mines in Australia, Chile and China. Ozarks at Large's Daniel Caruth speaks with USGS Hydrologist Katherine Knierim about the study.
Find more reporting on lithium mining in south Arkansas from Ozarks at Large here.
