Arkansas is a mid-sized, middle-class state. It is not very well-known to most, but that might soon change. That’s because lithium, a metal key in making reusable batteries for EVs, phones, laptops, and many other items, was discovered in huge amounts in the state.
The discovery was announced earlier this week when the United States Geological Survey released the results of a study showing large amounts of lithium in the southwestern edge of Arkansas, somewhere between 5 and 19 million tons of the soft metal. This may not sound like much, but it’s quite a lot. For comparison, the largest reserves we currently know of (outside of Arkansas) are in Chile and are roughly 9.3 million tons.
The effects this could have on Arkansas and the United States are tremendous. For the U.S., it means that instead of importing lithium, it could start exporting it, making America more energy independent (relying less on other countries for energy-related resources like oil, natural gas, lithium, etc.), and it could begin to produce more lithium-ion batteries, a market China dominates at the moment. For Arkansas, though, this could have much more significant effects. With more companies coming into the state to mine and refine the lithium, more high-paying jobs will go with them, making the average person in Arkansas richer and bringing in large amounts of money for the local communities and state. It could change the state’s future, and very likely will, as the U.S. views reducing dependence on foreign lithium as a priority.
Will all of this happen? Only time will tell, and hopefully, it will because the future will likely be brighter because of it. I’d recommend looking at other articles after this one because this is a flawed article, and other news outlets will have more information than we do.
Related Stories
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lindseychoo/2024/10/22/lithium-discovery-arkansas-evs/
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/22/24276615/ev-car-battery-lithium-reserves-arkansas
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