The agreement covers a total of 80,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate over a ten-year period. Deliveries are set to coincide with the start of commercial production at the South West Arkansas (SWA) Project in 2029. According to LG, the agreement is a binding take-or-pay contract, with prices and other commercial terms remaining confidential.
Smackover Lithium is a joint venture founded in 2024 by Standard Lithium and Equinor. Standard Lithium holds 55 per cent and acts as the operator, while Equinor owns 45 per cent. Together, the partners are developing multiple projects involving direct lithium extraction from brine in Arkansas and Texas. The South West Arkansas Project could achieve an annual production capacity of 22,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate in its first phase. With the agreed 8,000 tonnes per year, LG Energy Solution would take more than a third of the planned production.
LGES is already the second major customer for the project. In March, Smackover Lithium signed another ten-year contract for 8,000 tonnes per year with commodity trader Trafigura. Overall, the joint venture aims to secure long-term buyers for around 80 per cent of its planned production capacity. According to Smackover Lithium, the two existing contracts already cover around 90 per cent of this targeted offtake volume. Another, smaller contract is still to follow.
