Arkansas’ DLE Leaders Head to Fastmarkets Global Lithium Conference
Arkansas’ direct lithium extraction story will be well-represented next week at Fastmarkets’ Global Lithium, Battery and Critical Materials Conference in Las Vegas.
The conference, set for June 22-25, includes several sessions focused on the Smackover Formation, Arkansas’ role in U.S. lithium development and the technology, capital and workforce needed to move DLE from promise to production.
The programming shows how Arkansas and the broader Smackover region have moved from emerging opportunity to a central case study in U.S. critical minerals strategy.
Arkansas Highlights
Arkansas Commerce Secretary Hugh McDonald will lead a June 23 keynote, “What’s Next for US Lithium: Arkansas As a Blueprint for Delivery,” focused on how the state is aligning policy, investment, infrastructure, permitting, workforce development and community engagement to support lithium projects.
Also on the agenda: Standard Lithium CEO David Park will join a panel on building billion-dollar lithium projects, alongside executives from Vulcan Energy, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and ANatesh & Associates. The discussion will examine how major lithium projects secure capital, manage risk and prove they are “build-ready.”
The Smackover spotlight: Another panel, “Unlocking the Smackover,” will feature McDonald, Equinor’s Allison Kennedy-Thurmond, Fastmarkets’ Grace Asenov, ExxonMobil’s Matthew McCowan and Chevron New Energies’ Greg Kusinski.
The group will discuss why the Smackover is drawing major energy players, how DLE technologies are being adapted to its brines and what must align next for commercial-scale production.
What else: Jesse Edmondson, director of government affairs for Standard Lithium, will appear on a strategic materials outlook panel covering supply, demand and pricing across aerospace, defense and critical technology metals.
And on June 24: The Venture Center’s Arthur Orduña, Standard Lithium’s Chad Martin, the University of Arkansas’ Erik Pollock, Edmondson and Kennedy-Thurmond will help lead “The ALTA Challenge,” an interactive pitch session tied to Arkansas’ lithium technology accelerator.
