# Standard Lithium Standard Lithium is an Asset Manager based in Vancouver, Canada. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Asset Manager - **Headquarters:** Vancouver, Canada - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Vancouver, BC, Canada - **Founded:** 1998 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** standardlithium.com - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/standard-lithium ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About Standard Lithium was founded in Vancouver and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and NYSE American. Robert Mintak has served as CEO since 2018, steering the company's pivot from mineral exploration into a pure-play lithium brine developer. The firm's principal asset is a 150,000-acre project footprint across the Smackover Formation in southern Arkansas and east Texas, a geological formation with some of the highest reported lithium concentrations in North American brine. In 2021, the company commissioned a continuously operating direct lithium extraction (DLE) demonstration plant in El Dorado, Arkansas — a facility built in partnership with LANXESS Corporation on the site of an existing bromine processing operation. Standard Lithium operates a staged resource-development model. Phase 1A targets first commercial production of 5,400 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate equivalent at the LANXESS property, using DLE technology licensed from Koch Technology Solutions. A Phase 1B expansion and a separate Southwest Arkansas project would add significantly more capacity under a definitive agreement with Equinor, the Norwegian energy major, which acquired a 45% stake in two of the firm's project companies for up to $160 million in 2024. The company's process extracts lithium ions from brine already brought to the surface by existing bromine operations, then reinjects the tail brine — a closed-loop design that sidesteps open-pit mining and evaporation ponds. Access to existing chemical infrastructure and a skilled workforce in southern Arkansas reduces execution risk compared to greenfield lithium projects in remote jurisdictions. The firm has secured over $1.3 billion in total funding commitments, including a conditional $225 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy announced in October 2024 under the Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing initiative. Koch Strategic Platforms' investment in 2021 gave the company a strategic partner with deep process-engineering capabilities. In May 2024, Equinor closed its joint-venture acquisition, cementing Standard Lithium's transition from a single-asset junior developer to a partnered, fully funded commercial-stage enterprise. The company's board of directors includes former senior executives from Albemarle, the world's largest lithium producer, and Koch Industries. Standard Lithium's structural differentiator is its position as an infrastructure-reliant processor rather than a mining company. By extracting lithium from brine that third-party chemical plants already pump to the surface, the company avoids the permitting, water-rights, and land-disturbance conflicts that often delay hard-rock lithium mines. Its alliance with Equinor provides project-finance credibility and a balance-sheet backstop rarely seen among mid-cap critical-minerals developers. The U.S. government's classification of lithium as a critical mineral and its push to onshore battery supply chains supply a policy tailwind that most resource developers cannot replicate. ## Sectors - Energy Transition & Renewables - Industrial Tech ## Offices - El Dorado, AR, United States ## People - Robert Mintak — CEO and Director - David Paterson — President and COO - Salah Gamoudi — CFO - Andy Robinson — Chief Development Officer ## Questions ### What is Standard Lithium's primary asset? The company controls approximately 150,000 acres of brine rights in the Smackover Formation across southern Arkansas and east Texas. Its most advanced project straddles an existing LANXESS bromine facility in El Dorado, Arkansas, where the firm has operated a demonstration plant continuously since 2021. A second development zone in Southwest Arkansas is part of a partnership with Equinor. ### How does Standard Lithium's direct lithium extraction process differ from mining? Standard Lithium extracts lithium ions from brine that is already pumped to the surface by existing chemical operations — principally LANXESS's bromine processing facility — using a direct lithium extraction technology licensed from Koch Technology Solutions. After lithium extraction, the tail brine is reinjected into the formation. The process requires no open pits, no evaporation ponds, and significantly less fresh water than conventional lithium extraction methods. ### Has Standard Lithium secured any government funding? In October 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy announced Standard Lithium had been selected for award negotiations on a $225 million grant under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's battery-materials processing program. The grant is conditional and tied to the construction of the company's commercial-scale processing facility in Arkansas. ### What is Standard Lithium's production timeline? Phase 1A targets first commercial production of 5,400 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate equivalent at the LANXESS site, with the definitive feasibility study completed in 2023. The Equinor-funded Phase 1B expansion and Southwest Arkansas project are expected to follow, with final investment decisions pending front-end engineering and design studies, which the company is advancing through 2025. ### How does Standard Lithium make money today? Standard Lithium is a pre-revenue development-stage company. It does not currently generate operating income from lithium sales. The company funds its operations through equity raises, partnership proceeds including the Equinor transaction, and the conditional DOE grant. Revenue is contingent on commissioning and ramp-up of Phase 1A commercial production. ### Where is Standard Lithium listed? Standard Lithium trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SLI and on the NYSE American under the same symbol. The U.S. listing, gained in 2021, broadened the company's access to institutional capital as it scaled from a Canadian junior explorer into a development-stage industrial processor. ## Related profiles - [AllianceBernstein Global High Income Fund](https://altss.com/profile/alliancebernstein-global-high-income-fund-inc) - [ScanSource](https://altss.com/profile/scansource-inc) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/standard-lithium-ltd Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology