09:17 AM EST, 11/05/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Smackover Lithium, a 55:45 owned joint venture between Standard Lithium Ltd. ( SLI ) and Equinor, announced Wednesday that it has filed its Maiden Inferred Resource report for the Franklin Project in the northeast region of Texas. SLI was at last look up 0.9% in US premarket on the news.

A statement noted the Franklin Project is highlighted by 2,159,000 metric tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent at an average lithium concentration of 668 mg/L, 15,414,000 tonnes of potash (as potassium chloride), a newly added mineral to the U.S. Geological Survey 2025 Draft Critical Mineral List, and 2,638,000 tonnes of bromide (ionized form of the commercial product bromine), contained within 0.61 km 3 of brine volume.

The report for the JV's first project in the East Texas region of the Smackover highlights the size and quality of its brine position. It noted brine mineral leasing has been ongoing since 2022 in the approximate 80,000-acre Project area, with over 46,000 acres leased to support the inferred resource. It also noted the project also contains the highest reported lithium-in-brine grades in North America, including a previously measured 806 mg/L at the Pine Forest 1 well.

Wednesday's statement said this initial project definition marks a "key step towards the ultimate goal" of reaching production of over 100,000 tonnes of lithium chemicals per year in Texas through multiple phases. This goal is further supported by two additional projects the JV is planning to develop in East Texas that are anticipated to roughly triple the size of the JV's portfolio area in the state, it added.

The statement said: "The principal recommendation for next steps is to further refine the characteristics of the Upper and Middle Smackover Formation aquifers, brine chemistry and to assess reserve forecasts. This will be accomplished by drilling additional appraisal wells and re-entering three shut-in wells to facilitate the definition of a Preliminary Feasibility Study."

The JV will also conduct direct lithium extraction testing of the project brine, leveraging insights gained from Standard Lithium's ( SLI ) Demonstration Plant located in El Dorado, Arkansas, as well as the JV's South West Arkansas project.