Chris Milligan on Arkansas' $2 Trillion Lithium Opportunity
There's roughly $2 trillion worth of lithium sitting under South Arkansas, and almost none of it has been extracted yet. Chris Milligan, CEO of Earth, is trying to change that.
Episode notes
There's roughly $2 trillion worth of lithium sitting under South Arkansas, and almost none of it has been extracted yet. Chris Milligan, CEO of Earth, is trying to change that. In this episode, host Andy McNeill talks with Chris about how lithium is actually pulled from brine two miles underground, why Exxon, Chevron, and Equinor have already locked up hundreds of thousands of acres in the region, and why every major lithium plant proposed so far has stalled before breaking ground. Chris also shares his own path from water treatment engineering to founding Earth, and makes the case that Arkansas' real opportunity isn't just the lithium itself, it's the engineering, refining, and technology jobs that could come from building the supply chain here instead of shipping raw material overseas. If you've ever wondered what's actually happening with lithium in Arkansas, and why it's taking so long, this conversation lays it all out. In this conversation:
- How lithium is extracted from underground brine
- Why lithium prices crashed and stalled U.S. investment
- The difference between extraction and refining, and where the real value is
- Arkansas' overlooked history in critical minerals dating back to 1947
- What it will take to build Arkansas into a critical minerals hub