New player announces geothermal and critical minerals project in East Texas
Rig operations of T5 Smackover Partners at Franklin County, Texas (source: T5 Smackover Partners)
Carlo Cariaga
11 Feb 2026
T5 Smackover Partners is planning a geothermal power and lithium extraction project at the Smackover Formation in Texas, targeting modular and rapid deployment.
T5 Smackover Partners (T5), a subsidiary of Texas-based T5 Holdings LP, has announced the advancement of a geothermal power and critical minerals project in East Texas Smackover Formation, covering Franklin, Titus, and Hopkins Counties. The project proposes a combination of geothermal power generation and extraction of lithium and bromine, and possibly other critical and strategic minerals. The company also plans to build EV charging infrastructure and mobile grid-scale energy storage at the site.
“We purchased an award-winning piece of reclaimed land from Luminant, formerly TXU, several years ago,” said Bruce Thompson, founder of T5 Holdings.. “Twenty-five years ago, this property was a coal mine — which is hard to imagine today. My original goal was simply to build a great ranch for my family. I had never even heard of the Smackover Formation until landmen began approaching us about our minerals. That sparked an intense learning journey.”
Originally permitted as a geothermal well, T5’s initial development has exceeded temperature expectations. Leveraging this resource, T5 plans to deploy modular ORC turbines, targeting rapid deployment and fast time-to-market power generation.
In parallel with the discovery of geothermal resources, T5 has identified multiple zones within the Smackover Formation containing some of the highest lithium concentrations reported globally (at around 800 ppm vs 100 ppm global average). The company has also confirmed significant concentrations of other critical and strategic minerals, including potassium and strontium, and anticipates world-class bromine deposits across its acreage.
Based on current development plans, T5 expects its initial Franklin, Titus, and Hopkins County project to produce approximately 35 to 50,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) per year, positioning it among the largest lithium production projects in North America. The company is deploying a modular Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) strategy and expects to announce its DLE technology partner in the near future. Utilizing a hub-and-spoke model combined with modular processing, T5 anticipates producing meaningful volumes of lithium beginning in 2026 and accelerating into early 2027.
T5 also intends to develop innovative ultra-fast charging infrastructure along the I-30 corridor. In addition, the company plans to deploy up to 75–100 MW of mobile, dispatchable power that can be rapidly redeployed to support emergency response, disaster recovery, and grid resiliency efforts across the region and beyond.
T5 believes that its modular, hub-and-spoke approach will allow them to reach commercial lithium production much faster than large-scale centralized projects by major industry participants. The company’s modular geothermal, ORC, and Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) infrastructure is designed for phased deployment, allowing production to begin materially sooner as capacity is added incrementally.
“As we educated ourselves, it became clear that many neighbors were being pushed into 10- to 15-year mineral leases that might take decades to generate meaningful royalty income,” Thompson further added. “We decided to hire our own technical team, invest our own capital, and do this the right way. We love this community and want our neighbors to thrive alongside us. We truly believe we were guided to this unique place — and now we have the data, the resources, and what I like to call the ‘holy water’ to prove it.”
Lithium resources in the Smackover Formation have already been extensively studied through multiple exploration wells. Thus, the region has attracted great interest from companies seeking to extract lithium across sites in East Texas and Southwest Arkansas. However, a smaller number of companies have shown interest in co-developing geothermal power alongside lithium extraction, creating an opportunity for a more sustainable, circular industry.
Source: T5 Smackover Partners via PR Newswire
