[Rockhounds] Arkansas May Have Vast Lithium Reserves, Researchers Say

[Dora Smith]

Is fluorite a lithium ore or a separate mineral?  I'm turning up 
indications of both

Dora

On 10/21/24 8:17 PM, Alan Goldstein wrote:
> I'm aware that Hicks Dome in the fluorspar district has vast quantities of
> rare earths used in magnets. An ISGS person is working to get political
> support to encourage the development of mines to exact ore. It has already
> been tested for content with analysis equipment not designed for those rare
> earths specifically and the results were impressive. And there are deeper
> fluorite deposits in greater amounts than have been mined in the past 125
> years. Now if the price of fluorite can reach a level to make them
> economical to mine... Sorry - no links. Just info from a conversation I had
> with a knowledgeable geologist earlier this year.
>
> Alan G.
>
> On Mon, Oct 21, 2024 at 8:29 PM Kreigh Tomaszewski <kreigh at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Researchers said in a recent article that Arkansas may have 19 million tons
>> of lithium, which is used in rechargeable batteries for important products
>> like phones and electric cars.
>>
>> The researchers said in their article released last month in the journal
>> Science Advances they had “calculated that there are 5.1 to 19 million tons
>> of lithium in Smackover Formation brines in southern Arkansas,” making up
>> “35 to 136% of the current US lithium resource estimate.”
>>
>> According to a Monday release from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), “the
>> Smackover Formation is a relic of an ancient sea that left an extensive,
>> porous, and permeable limestone geologic unit that extends under parts of
>> Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.”
>> Lithium, which has been labeled by the USGS as a critical mineral, has been
>> often obtained from brines or salt flats they evaporate into. According to
>> a projection from the International Energy Agency, demand for lithium could
>> increase by more than 40 times by 2040.
>>
>>
>> https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/21/business/energy-environment/arkansas-lithium-ev-batteries.html
>>
>>
>> https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/researchers-say-arkansas-may-have-19m-tons-of-lithium-critical-for-battery-power/ar-AA1sFKbv
>> _______________________________________________
>> Rockhounds mailing list
>> Subscription Services:
>> http://rockhounds.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds_rockhounds.drizzle.com
>> List Usage Policy:
>> http://Tomaszewski.net/Kreigh/Rockhounds/Rockhounds.shtml
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Rockhounds mailing list
> Subscription Services:  http://rockhounds.drizzle.com/mailman/listinfo/rockhounds_rockhounds.drizzle.com
> List Usage Policy: http://Tomaszewski.net/Kreigh/Rockhounds/Rockhounds.shtml