LAS VEGAS, June 25 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) has

no plans to expand into hard rock lithium mining and will stay

focused on ways to extract the electric vehicle battery metal

from salty brines found throughout the world, an executive said

on Monday.

"We are focused on our core competencies, which is

subsurface fluids," Patrick Howarth, head of Exxon's lithium

business, told the Fastmarkets Lithium Supply and Battery Raw

Materials Conference in Las Vegas.

The company is deciding which direct lithium extraction

(DLE) technology it will license to produce lithium in Arkansas

and does not plan to create its own. "We don't believe it's

expeditious for us to develop our own DLE technology," he said.