June 24, 2025 – A company will break ground on a lithium mining facility in nearby Mount Vernon in August that will create 120 jobs.
Lithium is used in batteries, electric vehicles, computers and other devices. The Trump administration wants tp expedite production in order to end dependence on China for the mineral.
Mount Vernon Mayor Brad Hyman says: “It’s going to be transformational for our county.”
K-L-T-V television reports that the city’s tax revenue is expected to double from the plant.
Mount Vernon and neighboring Franklin County sit on the Smackover Formation, a large lithium deposit that continues into southwest Arkansas.
Geoframe Energy’s plant will sit on land behind the Duke’s Travel Plaza on I-30. They will only produce lithium, not batteries, at the site.
Geoframe is based in Austin, and has acquired the mineral rights to 8,000 acres in the surrounding area.
Geoframe C-E-O Bruce Cutright says: “The spent brine will then be sent back underground in injection wells, about two miles deep. No impact on groundwater resources.”
Cutright says there won’t be any impact to the environment from the project, as there are no surface emissions from the mining process.
The plant is expected to begin production in early 2026.
