Arkansas Mulls Lithium Royalty as Race for Key Resource Heats Up

The state of Arkansas is considering adding lithium to its royalty structure, providing more certainty to investors and producers while seeking to profit from the race to mine a key resource for the energy transition.

Arkansas is seen as a front-runner in producing lithium in the US as the nation aims to weaken China’s dominance in global supplies of commodities crucial to electric vehicles. The state hosts oil-field brine reserves that analysts say have the potential to unlock future supplies of the metal.

It’s important that Arkansas has “a royalty structure that’s predictable, certain, and competitive for the industry, but ...