{"id":313489,"date":"2026-05-29T05:04:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T05:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/313489\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T05:04:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T05:04:27","slug":"east-texas-eyed-as-next-major-lithium-supplier-for-army","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/313489\/","title":{"rendered":"East Texas eyed as next major lithium supplier for Army"},"content":{"rendered":"

Subscribe to The Y\u2019all<\/a> \u2014 a weekly dispatch about the people, places and policies defining Texas, produced by Texas Tribune journalists living in communities across the state.<\/p>\n

Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy<\/a>, and give us feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Northeast Texas could provide the U.S. Army with part of its critical lithium supply if a proposed federal bill is passed under the National Defense Authorization Act.<\/p>\n

East Texas Congressman Nathaniel Moran and U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn proposed a bill that would allow private-sector companies to mine for lithium beneath military depots. The goal of this bill, called The Army Organic Industrial Base Mineral Partnerships Act<\/a> of 2026, is to provide the military with a steady supply of U.S.-based lithium, rather than rely on foreign countries. <\/p>\n

The bill could also be a boon for East Texas, a region long dependent on timber, agriculture and oil.<\/p>\n

The Army uses lithium to<\/a> power equipment, like drones or night vision goggles, and support submarines, wheeled vehicles and airplanes. Lithium, a metal that is used medically to treat mood disorders<\/a>, also has applications in batteries and technology. Most notably, lithium powers the batteries used in electric cars.<\/p>\n

For the most part, the U.S. relies on other countries, such as China<\/a>, to provide critical minerals like lithium for military operations. <\/p>\n

Bowie County, which is the furthest northeast county in Texas and is within the Texarkana metropolitan area, resides on one of the largest deposits of<\/a> lithium brine in the U.S. It is also home to the Red River Army Depot, a roughly 15,000-acre U.S. military base, which already has existing lithium mining projects in the surrounding area.<\/p>\n

If approved, the legislation could create new jobs and tax revenues for Bowie County, Moran said. It would establish Texarkana as the army\u2019s premier hub for lithium battery production, Cruz said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"\"Customer lithium samples at the EnergyX lab in Austin on May 21, 2026. Manoo Sirivelu\/The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n

\"\"Lab scale solvent extraction equipment at the EnergyX lab in Austin. Manoo Sirivelu\/The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything that creates investment in jobs is good for our community,\u201d said Bowie County Judge Bobby Howell.<\/p>\n

Lithium is often found in salty water aquifers thousands of feet below the ground. The Smackover Formation<\/a>, which spans from Central Texas to the Florida Panhandle, provides lithium in levels comparable to Chile, one of the leading countries in lithium production.<\/p>\n

Most of the production on the Smackover Formation has been in southern Arkansas, but those operations are expanding into East Texas. <\/p>\n

Bringing private sector into military mining<\/p>\n

EnergyX, an Austin-based lithium mining company<\/a>, set up shop on former army depot land to get an idea of how best to extract the mineral from the brine in the region. <\/p>\n

\"\"The EnergyX science headquarters in Austin. Manoo Sirivelu\/The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n

Milda Saenz,<\/a> chief of staff for EnergyX, sees the potential for military connections as a positive thing for the industry. But she\u2019s skeptical on this bill\u2019s impact on the entire industry. Plus, there are several unanswered questions, including which federal agency would oversee mineral leasing on military land and how companies would gain access to those rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re glad to hear that the politicians realize that the United States needs to open their resources if they want to become competitive globally, especially securing our national security, national resources and supply chains,\u201d Saenz said.<\/p>\n

There is no mechanism currently in place for commercial organizations to access the lithium beneath military installations on the Smackover Formation, said Scott Norton<\/a>, executive director and CEO of TexAmericas Center. TexAmericas is an industrial real estate developer and manager based in Texarkana. The state named the company a local redevelopment authority to create jobs by redeveloping former Department of Defense property into functional space for commercial and industrial businesses.<\/p>\n

Norton said EnergyX will have the option to expand into a full-scale mining operation in the acres that surround the military depot. Saenz said the company is working through its plans, with hopes of growing in phases over the next few years.<\/p>\n

Weighing lithium\u2019s environmental risks<\/p>\n

East Texans have had a hard battle<\/a> over the last two years to protect their water supply from overconsumption<\/a> and pollution. Lately, AI data centers, because of their use of water and impact on the environment, have led to major pushback<\/a> by the populace.<\/p>\n

Lithium extraction, which requires companies to pump brine water from thousands of feet below the surface, could cause alarm. However, the process currently puts the water \u2013 minus the minerals \u2013 back where it was found. <\/p>\n

Moran believes there is a way to mine for lithium that doesn\u2019t harm the environment or water supply. <\/p>\n

\"\"Direct lithium extraction pilot scale equipment at the EnergyX lab. Manoo Sirivelu\/The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to do this in a responsible way, a thoughtful way, a reasonable, prudent way,\u201d Moran said. \u201cOne that is as a good steward to our natural resources, but also one that understands the significant national security interests wrapped up into becoming independent from China and our adversaries when it comes to critical minerals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howell said he hasn\u2019t heard any pushback from his constituents. Largely, he said, the community sees these projects as a benefit because they bring in well-paying jobs and support the local economy. <\/p>\n

EnergyX\u2019s process, for example, is a little different from the processes seen in other countries, such as Chile and Australia. It aims to have little to no environmental impact. It extracts the brine that has lithium in it, which sits thousands of feet below the surface, pumps it through an extraction process and sends the unused brine back to the Smackover Formation the same day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are super clean,\u201d Saenz said. \u201cWe are super clean while extracting. We use very little water and get lithium in the cleanest way possible and the fastest way without making any impact on the land or water.\u201d<\/p>\n

East Texas\u2019 next big boom?<\/p>\n

Lithium mining operations have been cropping up across East Texas over the last five years. Local economists have called it East Texas\u2019 \u201cnext big boom.<\/a>\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cTexas has a lot of potential,\u201d said Brent Elliott, an economic geologist and mineral resource specialist with the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin. \u201cWe have some of the highest lithium values from brines anywhere in the United States, and it just makes sense because we\u2019re already mining it. There\u2019s been a legacy and historical development of those brines in the past as part of oil and gas production, so it just seems like a no-brainer.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the possibilities for communities like those in Bowie County are exciting to the economic development leaders trying to expand the regional economy. Norton, with the TexAmericas Center, said lithium production projects create jobs not just within the industry, but in those that support it, such as education, truck driving, retail and healthcare.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity for not just the Department of War and Red River Army Depot, but also the entire region when it comes to capital investment and job creation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But as with any relatively new industry, there are some kinks to work out, said Elliott. <\/p>\n

Arkansas has been the hub for lithium mining in the region and has built out rules and regulations that support companies, landowners and those who own mineral rights. Texas is a little behind in the sense that it doesn\u2019t have as extensive rules and regulations as more established lithium mining regions, Elliott said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTexas is probably a much friendlier state as far as developing businesses and industry with the oil and gas as the precedent,\u201d Elliott said. \u201cWe could probably catch up to Arkansas production pretty quickly. But it is the Wild West until we get some things in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The EnergyX science headquarters in Austin. Manoo Sirivelu\/The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune\u2019s journalism. Find a complete list of them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Subscribe to The Y\u2019all \u2014 a weekly dispatch about the people, places and policies defining Texas, produced by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,2604,437,3309,112136,7883,11363,6748],"class_list":["post-313489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-east-texas","tag-economic-development","tag-john-cornyn","tag-nathaniel-moran","tag-ted-cruz","tag-texarkana","tag-well-b-homepage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}