10:50 AM EDT, 03/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Standard Lithium ( SLI ) said Tuesday that its Smackover Lithium joint venture with Equinor achieved one of the last technical milestones in the development of the South West Arkansas project in Arkansas.

According to Standard Lithium ( SLI ), the joint venture and partner Koch Technology Solutions completed the final Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) derisking step for the project, a critical step toward commercialization.

Additionally, Standard Lithium ( SLI ) said large-volume samples of the concentrated and purified DLE product have been sent to third-party vendors. The company said these vendors will convert the DLE product into battery-quality lithium carbonate while also being assessed as potential equipment suppliers for the commercial project.

"This field-pilot is the final step in derisking DLE technology for Smackover brines; we're now ready to commercialize this technology," said Andy Robinson, Standard Lithium's ( SLI ) president and COO. "For five years, Standard Lithium ( SLI ) has been operating a large-scale demonstration plant in Arkansas, and we've processed over 28 million gallons of real, live Smackover brine."

"The field-pilot was the final step to demonstrate that we can reliably process brine from our SWA project, extract lithium in real-time, and convert to a battery-quality lithium carbonate product," Robinson added.

Standard Lithium ( SLI ) said the Smackover Lithium joint venture has now completed the necessary testing of the flowsheet, and can now complete the FEED work and feasibility study.

Standard Lithium's ( SLI ) share price was up 1.7% -- having earlier been up 3.4% -- $1.78 on the TSXV.

Price: 1.78, Change: +0.03, Percent Change: +1.71