Andrew L. Masterson Philip A. Freeman Bonnie McDevitt Amanda H. Herzberg Peng Li Ciara Mills Colin Doolan Aaron M. Jubb Scott M. Ausbrooks Jessica Chenault Katherine J. Knierim 2024 <p>Lithium-rich brine deposits occur throughout the United States, including in the Smackover Formation. The concentration of lithium in Smackover Formation brines was predicted across southern Arkansas by using a machine-learning model that incorporated lithium concentration data and geologic information. Between 5.1 and 19.0 million metric tons of lithium are calculated to be present in the brines of the Smackover Formation in southern Arkansas. The range in possible total lithium reflects the uncertainty in machine-learning predictions of lithium concentrations and the range of Smackover Formation porosity. This estimate quantifies the in-place lithium resource and does not consider the technological and economic feasibility of extracting the lithium from the brines.</p> application/pdf 10.3133/fs20243052 en U.S. Geological Survey Lithium resource in the Smackover Formation brines of Southern Arkansas reports