Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by iwana nipper on October 29, 2020 at 5:36

The property is in Columbia County at Macedonia.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on October 29, 2020 at 10:52

Brine wells are fairly common in that part of south AR however those operating companies are extracting bromine and other byproducts such as lithium which is now in high demand.  Saltworx seems to be a company that provides salt products for de-icing surfaces such as roads in cold weather climes.  I've never heard of the company working in S AR but we get little feedback from those counties. It is unclear to me at this point just what brine byproduct Saltworx may be interested in.   As to the terms for a brine lease, that would take the advise of an experienced attorney.  This discussion may produce more feedback if posted to the Columbia, AR group page:  https://gohaynesvilleshale.com/group/columbia-county-arkansas  Or in the Union County group:  https://gohaynesvilleshale.com/group/union-county-arkansas-shale

http://www.saltworx.net/

Bromine (Brine)

Elemental bromine (Br) is a highly corrosive, reddish-brown, volatile liquid which, along with fluorine, chlorine, and iodine, forms a family of elements known as the halogens. About 85 percent of the bromine recovered is consumed at the production site by the bromine producers. Major products include fire retardants, ingredients in bug and fungus sprays, antiknock compounds in leaded gasoline, and oil-well completion fluids. The remainder, as elemental bromine, is shipped to various chemical processors for use in chemical reagents, disinfectants, photographic preparations and chemicals, solvents, water-treatment compounds, dyes, insulating foam, and hair-care products.

Bromine and iodine are extracted from sea water by seaweed and plankton. In Arkansas, decomposition of organic debris during the Jurassic Period released both bromine and iodine to the forming brines. However, iodine is thought to have escaped from the system into the atmosphere through the process of oxidation. During the processes that produced the hydrocarbons composing petroleum and natural gas, bromine became even more concentrated in the associated salt brines. In Arkansas, it is thought that brines in the Louann Formation migrated through the overlying Norphlet Formation into the Smackover Formation.

Bromine is present in abnormally high concentrations in salt brines of the Smackover Formation (Jurassic) in south-central Arkansas. The original analyses that led to the development of Arkansas's bromine industry were performed by the Arkansas Geological Commission chemist on brines from 4 oil fields developed in the Smackover Formation. The analyses showed bromine concentrations ranging from 4,000 to 4,600 parts per million, or about 70 times the bromine concentration of normal ocean water. Between 1.5 to 1.8 pounds of bromine are recovered from every barrel of brine processed.

The first commercial recovery of bromine in Arkansas was from Union County in 1957, and production has been continuous ever since. Arkansas's industry continues as the world's leading producer of bromine, averaging 40 percent of the world's production for the 5-year period between 1986 and 1990, inclusive. During the same period, the average rate of growth of Arkansas's bromine recovery was more than 20 million pounds per year. U. S. production in 2001 was 212,000 metric tons, valued at $159 million, with Arkansas's output accounting for 97 percent. U. S. Geological Survey data for 2005 indicate that 27 percent of Arkansas's non-fuels mineral value was due to bromine recovery. Bromine presently is recovered from brines in Columbia and Union Counties. In 2006, Arkansas, with six plants operated by Albemarle and Chemtura Corporation (locally known as Great Lakes Chemical Company), again led the Nation in bromine production, and bromine was the leading mineral commodity in terms of value produced in the State.

In 2006, Tetra Technologies Inc. announced plans to invest $100 million in a project to produce bromine from brine. The plant will process bromine, calcium chloride, and sodium chloride from brine reserves around Magnolia, AR. The bromine produced would replace bromine now being imported and would have negligible effect on current producers.

Arkansas Smackover Lithium Project

Lanxess

The Arkansas Smackover lithium project, also known as the Lanxess lithium project, is the flagship project of Standard Lithium, a specialty chemical company focussed on developing large-scale lithium brine resources in the US.

The Arkansas Smackover lithium project is located in southern Arkansas, US, the region that houses the biggest brine production and processing facilities in North America.

Standard Lithium announced the positive results of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the Arkansas Smackover lithium project in June 2019. The PEA forecasts up to 20.900 tonnes per annum (tpa) of battery-quality lithium carbonate production over a project life of 25 years, with an estimated capital expenditure of £334m ($437m).

The company completed the installation of an industrial-scale lithium extraction demonstration plant based on its proprietary LiSTR direct lithium extraction technology at one of the Lanxess’s bromine production plants in southern Arkansas in December 2019.

Project Gallery

The commissioning of the first-of-its-kind direct lithium extraction demonstration plant is expected in 2020.

Partnership with Lanxess

Standard Lithium plans to develop the lithium project through a joint venture partnership with Lanxess, the largest brine processing operator in the Smackover region of southern Arkansas.

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to demonstrate the commercial viability of battery-grade lithium extraction from waste brine (tail brine) of Lanxess’s three existing bromine processing facilities in southern Arkansas in May 2018.

Location and site details

The Arkansas Smackover lithium project area covers approximately 150,000 acres, near El Dorado, in southern Arkansas, US. Lanxess owns approximately 10,000 brine leases in the project area.

The Lanxess bromine operations on the mineral-rich Smackover Formation in south Arkansas comprises a total of 65 wells, including 30 brine supply wells and 35 reinjection wells, 400km of brine supply pipelines, and three bromine production plants namely the South, West, and Central plants.

Standard Lithium has also secured the rights for exploration, production and lithium extraction on 27,262 acres of brine leases in a different area on the Smackover Formation in southwest Arkansas, located approximately 40km west of the Lanxess project site. Known as the South-Western Arkansas Tetra project, the area comprises 807 separate brine leases that are held by TETRA Technologies.

Arkansas Smackover lithium resource estimates

The Lanxess lithium project was estimated to contain 3.14 million tonnes (Mt) of indicated Lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) resources as of June 2019, while approximately 802,000t of maiden inferred LCE resources were reported for the South-Western Arkansas Tetra project in January 2019.

Lanxess brine mining operation at Arkansas Smackover

Raw brine extracted from the 30 brine supply wells in the project area is sent through a network of 400km of pipelines to three processing facilities for bromine recovery.

Each supply well consists of a 1,100HP electrical submersible brine pump with a 17.8cm tubing. The pumps are submersed approximately 1,220m below ground level.

The sour gas produced during the brine extraction is separated at the wellhead by a gas separator. A separate pipeline transports the sour gas to the Central processing plant, from where it is further piped to the Delek Refinery.

Operating for almost the last 50 years, the three bromine extraction plants have been producing up to 5.3 billion gallons of brine annually.

The tail brine from the processing plants is injected back into the aquifer through 35 reinjection wells for maintaining pressure.

Lithium processing for the Lanxess Smackover project

The tail-brine, which is produced as a by-product from the Lanxess’s bromine extraction facilities, will be processed to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate.

Each of the existing facilities will be added with its own primary lithium chloride extraction plant, where pre-treated tail-brine will be mixed with fine-grained ceramic powder adsorbent to absorb lithium ions.

The purified and concentrated lithium chloride solutions from each plant will be sent through pipelines to a single location at the existing Central bromine extraction facility for the production of lithium carbonate.

The concentrated lithium chloride solution will undergo reverse osmosis (RO) and mechanical vapour recompression (MVR) for further concentration and purification at the lithium carbonate production facility.

A soda ash solution will be used to precipitate the lithium carbonate from the hot lithium chloride solution discharge from the MVR evaporator.

The resultant lithium carbonate will undergo hot washing, drying, and micronisation for the production of the final battery-grade lithium carbonate product.

Southern Arkansas direct lithium extraction demonstration plant details

Standard Lithium installed a pre-commercial direct lithium extraction demonstration plant at Lanxess’s South plant facility in southern Arkansas in December 2019.

Designed to process 50 gallons of tail brine per minute, the demonstration plant is expected to produce up to 150tpa of lithium carbonate a year.

The plant is based on Standard Lithium’s proprietary LiSTR direct lithium extraction technology that uses a solid sorbent material to selectively extract lithium from waste brines.

 

 

• ▶ Reply