ION Minerals expands lithium footprint in Texas, Saskatchewan 

ION Minerals has announced significant expansion across its diversified lithium resource portfolio in the United States and Canada. 

The privately-held, Houston-based company said it has strategically expanded its acreage footprint through disciplined acquisitions, targeted leasing, and focused geological evaluation. 

 ION now controls just over 280,000 mineral acres across three project areas, and is positioning as a premier developer of lithium resources critical to the North American battery supply chain, it said.  

East Texas – Smackover Formation 

The Smackover is an underground geological formation stretching from Florida to Texas filled with lithium-rich brine. 

Analysts estimate the Smackover could contain more than 4 million metric tons of lithium, enough to power millions of electric vehicles and other electronic devices. 

ION controls nearly 50,000 mineral acres strategically located between Tetra Technologies’ Evergreen Brine Unit and Standard Lithium’s Reynolds Brine Unit in Southwest Arkansas and Standard Lithium’s Franklin Project in East Texas, where reported resource densities range from 47–60 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) per acre. 

The acreage establishes a commercial-scale position within one of North America’s most actively advancing brine development corridors, benefiting from strong regional resource validation, established brine production history, and increasing commercial momentum in adjacent projects, ION said.  

Texas Panhandle  

In the prospective Texas Panhandle region, ION also controls nearly 65,000 mineral acres, where internal analysis of public and proprietary data estimates as much as 2.4 million tonnes of LCE in place. 

The position sits within a nearly 500,000-acre Area of Interest and provides a path to large-scale commercial development potential. 

Saskatchewan – Duperow Formation 

ION recently acquired just over 165,000 mineral acres in Southeast Saskatchewan, establishing a significant position in the rapidly emerging lithium brine play targeting the Duperow Formation. 

Based on preliminary geological data and independent analog assessments, the Saskatchewan acreage is estimated to contain as much as 2.5 million tonnes of LCE potential, the company said.  

 The project targets multiple productive benches within the Duperow Formation, with drilling and testing currently slated to begin in Summer 2026. 

“With this portfolio expansion, we have materially strengthened our position as a scaled, diversified, lithium developer, and advanced our mission to responsibly unlock lithium resources that will help fuel the North American battery supply chain,” ION Minerals CEO Justin Love said in a news release.  

“The newly acquired Saskatchewan – Duperow position complements our existing strategic landholdings in the Texas Panhandle and Texas Smackover, placing ION among a select group of developers across the continent with meaningful scale and asset diversification.”