Unassuming Arkansas town is about to become epicenter of US’s lithium boom: Magnolia – a blue-collar town where 25% of its 11k population are unemployed – is sitting on a multi-billion-dollar gold mine of precious metal… and oil companies are circling

A small, quiet Arkansas town home to just 11,100 people is becoming the epicenter of the rise of the US’ “white gold.”

Magnolia, a working-class town in the state’s southern region, was once a locus for oil, but is on its way to becoming a major producer of lithium, dubbed “white gold” for its soft, silvery-white appearance and the fact that it powers most modern technology — from cell phones to laptops and electric cars.

Exxon Mobil plans to build one of the world’s largest lithium processing facilities near the city, with the capacity to produce 75,000 to 100,000 tons of lithium per year. sources saywhich would be 15 percent of global lithium production.

The city sits on what’s known as the Smackover Formation, a geological formation that runs from Texas to Florida and is brimming with saltwater brine — which contains small amounts of lithium.

Magnolia Mayor Parnell Vann told DailyMail.com that he hopes the projects will restore the city to its former glory and create thousands of new jobs. Magnolia currently has an unemployment rate of 26.6 percent.

But the irony is that the U.S. switch from fossil fuels to lithium-powered electric batteries isn’t entirely environmentally friendly. Extracting one ton of lithium requires about 500,000 liters of water, which can lead to reservoir poisoning and related health problems.

“Lithium is getting huge [in Magnolia],’ Vann said.

“It’s not so much about the lithium as it is about the jobs that come with it.”

He added that everything from truck stops to body shops and clothing stores in and around the town will grow.

Magnolia is home to one grocery store, the Piggly Wiggly, and when projects begin, Vann expects the city will need another to meet the demand of the new jobs.

Exxon Mobil purchased 120,000 gross acres in May and is jointly developing more than 6,100 lithium-rich acres in Arkansas with Tetra Technologies.

Exxon Mobil predicts it can produce up to 110,000 tons of lithium annually, enough to power 50 million electric vehicles.

Tetra, which produces chemicals for water treatment and recycling, said in June it had signed an agreement with a company known as Saltwerx to develop 6,138 acres of saline brine deposits in Arkansas filled with lithium and bromine, though it provided few additional details.

Saltwerx is a subsidiary of Exxon, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Vancouver-based Standard Lithium, which acquired rights to 30,000 acres of brine lease west of Magnolia, is also moving to the southern state.

Standard Lithium announced in May that it has tasted the highest confirmed lithium-grade brine, according to Arkansas Magnolia reporter.

“If I understand the story correctly, Exxon Mobil bought mineral rights from a group Galvanic Energy and – Tetra and Standard are in bed with Exxon Mobil,” said Vann.

While it’s unknown how much money the companies are putting into the projects, a 7,000-acre refinery off California will cost $500 million.

And then it costs about $5,000 to $8,000 a ton to produce lithium.

Magnolia’s mayor is optimistic about the projects, but told DailyMail.com the only thing standing in the way is the city’s housing shortage.

Vann said it had been at least 20 years since the last housing project and will present his concerns to city council on Monday.

He also said Magnolia is improving its infrastructure and just completed a $5 million water project that replaced cast iron pipes with plastic.

‘We have to get ready. If you come here to work in lithium and have no place to live, you’re not coming back,” Vann said.

We plan to take advantage of it [the lithium boom]. I’d like to see another 5,000 people call Magnolia home.

“We have a lot to offer, but like any small town in America, we have limited resources.”

The US is slowly moving away from gas-powered cars for electric vehicles to cut greenhouse gas emissions – but the shift also means it will be more dependent on other countries, such as China, to provide the necessary materials.

Mining lithium on US soil would help the nation move towards self-reliance, which the country has striven for but has yet to achieve.

The country is home to only one active lithium mine, Clayton Valley, near Silver Peak, Nevada, but many companies are working to change that.

Lithium Americas received approval Monday to build the largest lithium mine in North America.

The location will be Nevada’s Thacker Pass, which is expected to produce at least 80,000 tons of the soft metal each year.

And Salton Sea in California will be mined by EnergySource Minerals.

While lithium plays a critical role in the clean energy transition, mining white gold could lead to long-term ecological damage.

The lithium extraction process uses a lot of water – more than 500,000 liters per ton of lithium.

Miners drill a hole in salt flats to extract lithium and pump salty, mineral-rich brine to the surface.

After several months, the water evaporates, leaving a mixture of manganese, potassium, borax, and lithium salts, which is then filtered and placed in another evaporation basin.

After 12 and 18 months of this process, the mixture is sufficiently filtered so that lithium carbonate can be extracted.

For more than a year, the production of 60,000 tons of lithium at Nevada’s Thacker Pass could devastate the environment – up to 30 million tons of earth need to be dug.

This is more than the annual amount of dirt excavated to produce all but seven or eight U.S. states’ coal production

In May 2016, dead fish were found in China’s Liqi River, where a toxic chemical was leaking from the Ganzizhou Rongda Lithium Mine.

Carcasses of cows and yaks were also found floating in the river, probably killed by drinking the contaminated water.

Lithium mining also damages the soil and causes air pollution.

In Argentina’s Salar de Hombre Muerto, residents believe lithium operations have polluted streams used by people and livestock to irrigate crops.

In Chile, the landscape is marred by mountains of discarded salt and canals filled with polluted water with an unnatural blue hue.

According to Guillermo Gonzalez, a lithium battery expert from the University of Chile, “This is not a green solution, it’s not a solution at all.”