Vancouver-based Standard Lithium Ltd. this week announced it plans to enter into a “joint venture” partnership with the global specialty chemical company Lanxess Corp. as part of a southern Arkansas lithium extraction viability project located in the Smackover Formation in and around Columbia, Lafayette, and Union Counties. The company said “term sheets” have been signed.

The Canadian company in January entered into an option agreement with TETRA Technologies for lithium exploration and extraction in 30,000 acres of local area brine fields. In Monday’s announced planned new joint venture with Laxness, the international partnership could be set to have access to some 180,000 acres of prime brine fields.

“Southern Arkansas is one of the best jurisdictions in the world to be developing a modern lithium project focused on high purity battery grade materials given its well documented resource,” says Standard Lithium’s company website. “Large existing commercial brine production and ideal location with significant infrastructure, power, water, a skilled work force and easy access to the Gulf of Mexico.”

The Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission states the annual brine production at the Smackover Formation from 2010 to 2016 was estimated at 9.4 billion gallons annually.

Lanxess, according to a Standard Lithium statement, operates 10,000 brine leases and surface agreements, 250 miles of pipelines, and has operations encompassing more than 150,000 acres. The brine fields are primarily located just south and west of El Dorado and directly border the northeastern corridor of Columbia County.

“Lanxess extracts the brine from their wells located throughout the area, and the brine is transported to the three Arkansas plants through a network of pipelines,” a Standard Lithium statement said. “The three bromine extraction plants currently employ approximately 500 people and process and reinject several hundred thousand barrels of brine per day.”

The southern Arkansas endeavor is listed as Standard Lithium’s “flagship” project. The company hopes to extract commercial-grade lithium from the Smackover Formation brine to supply the electric vehicle and battery storage markets.

The Standard Lithium-Lanxess joint venture would be a “phased approach,” the company says. Lanxess would contribute lithium extraction rights and grant access to its existing infrastructure, and Standard Lithium will contribute existing rights and leases held in the Smackover Formation, the pilot plant being developed on the Lanxess property, as well as proprietary extraction processes and intellectual property rights, according to the Nov. 12 statement.

On Wednesday, Standard Lithium released a “maiden lithium resource statement” from the 150,000-acre Lanxess Union County plot. The report showed a total lithium carbonate equivalent of 3.086 million metric tons.

“The release of this first resource report is a significant milestone for the company and shows that the south Arkansas Project is one of the most interesting emerging lithium brine projects globally,” said Standard Lithium CEO Robert Mintak. “The combination of robust data sampled from existing brine production wells, with a large land package of 150,000 acres and associated infrastructure, makes our South Arkansas Project a compelling opportunity. A second resource report on 30,000 acres of separate brine leases in southwest Arkansas will follow this report before the end of the year.”

Standard Lithium is also said to be in pursuit of 45,000 lease-acres in the Mojave Desert near San Bernardino County, California.

Albemarle Corporation, a direct competitor of Lanxess, is the major brine lease holder in Columbia County. Standard Lithium’s western 30,000 acres of brine lands, according a company map, begins approximately 4 miles west of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company’s Magnolia West Plant.

Albemarle is also the largest lithium producer in the world and is ever expanding. On Monday, Australian news outlets announced the company plans to build a $730 million ($1 billion Australian) lithium hydroxide plant near the Western Australian town of Bunburry.