Standard Lithium Ltd. (NYSE.A: SLI) reported operational milestones at its demonstration plant in El Dorado, Arkansas, according to a company statement.

The facility has processed 1 million barrels of brine from the Smackover Formation since commissioning in 2020. The plant's direct lithium extraction technology completed over 15,000 cycles, achieving 95% lithium recovery and 99% rejection of contaminants.

The company reported 340,000 man hours of operation over six years without safety incidents. The demonstration plant processes brine in real-time to produce battery-quality lithium carbonate.

"Processing and analyzing such large volumes of live lithium brine provides a unique and robust data set that supports the scalability and de-risking of our selected process technology," said Dr. Andy Robinson, President and Chief Operating Officer.

The facility uses the same direct lithium extraction process planned for Standard Lithium's South West Arkansas Project, which has an initial planned capacity of 22,500 tonnes of annual battery-quality lithium carbonate. The demonstration plant contains a commercial-scale direct lithium extraction unit supplied by Aquatech.

Standard Lithium operates the demonstration plant to support process optimization, data collection, engineering design and employee training for the South West Arkansas Project. The company develops lithium-brine properties in the United States, focusing on projects in the Smackover Formation in Arkansas and Texas.

The company partners with Equinor on the South West Arkansas Project and maintains lithium brine resources in East Texas.