Select Water Solutions and Mariana Minerals Break Ground on Texas's First Commercial Produced Water Lithium Extraction Facility

Rhea-AI Summary

Select Water Solutions (NYSE: WTTR) and Mariana Minerals broke ground on a produced water lithium extraction facility in Joaquin, Texas, in the Haynesville shale. The facility is designed to produce up to 3,000 metric tons/year of high‑purity lithium salts and will be funded, built, owned and operated by Mariana while Select supplies water and receives a royalty. Site preparation began July 2025; construction runs through December 2026 and commercial production is targeted in H1 2027. Select said the project could generate up to $5 million of annual cash flow and leverages a strategic collection point with > 70,000 barrels per day of produced water available at one site.

Positive

• 3,000 t/year designed lithium production capacity
• >$70,000 bpd of water available at a single collection point
• Up to $5M potential annual cash flow for Select

Negative

• Construction continues through Dec 2026, commercial risk until H1 2027
• Select will receive a royalty rather than operate the facility
• Projected cash flow described as could generate (non‑guaranteed estimate)

Insights

Infrastructure & Minerals Analyst

Groundbreaking starts a potentially valuable produced-water lithium supply chain, but revenue and operational control remain uncertain.

Select Water Solutions supplies the collection network and will receive a royalty while Mariana Minerals will fund, build, and operate the Joaquin, Texas refining site designed to produce up to 3,000 metric tons per year of high‑purity lithium salts. The project leverages an existing pipeline footprint that makes more than 70kbpd available at a single collection point, avoiding new brine wells and major utility build‑outs and thus lowering upfront infrastructure scope for this site.

The arrangement concentrates execution and operational risk with the operator while Select benefits via a royalty and possible incremental cash flow; the company cites that the project "could generate up to" $5mm of annual cash flow, language that states projection without guarantee. Key dependencies include construction progress through December 2026, successful commissioning and scale‑up to commercial rates targeted in H1 2027, and the operator meeting designed recovery and purity metrics.

Watch the construction schedule, commissioning milestones, and the first public disclosure of actual production rates, recovery yields, and confirmed royalty economics over the next 6–18 months. If the operator reports sustained production near the 3,000 t/year design and transparent royalty receipts begin within the stated commercial window, the announcement moves from conceptual to material for Select’s Water Infrastructure segment.

JOAQUIN, Texas, Oct. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Select Water Solutions, Inc. ("Select", NYSE: WTTR) and Mariana Minerals ("Mariana") today announced the groundbreaking of a pioneering produced water lithium extraction facility in Joaquin, Texas, located in Shelby County, within the Haynesville shale region. The facility will be funded, designed, constructed, and operated by Mariana Minerals and leverage Select's extensive water treatment expertise and existing pipeline infrastructure network to source, transport, and manage the produced water streams critical to the extraction process, for which Select will receive a royalty payment. The Select and Mariana teams were joined in attendance by several state and local representatives including Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian, Texas State Representatives Trent Ashby and Daniel Alders and Joaquin Mayor Jessie Griffith.

Commissioner Christian commented, "It was an honor to join the Select and Mariana teams, along with Reps. Alders and Ashby, to launch Texas's first produced water lithium refinery in Joaquin. This project combines Select's water infrastructure with Mariana Minerals' refining expertise to turn produced water into American-made lithium that strengthens our domestic energy agenda and critical minerals supply chain. East Texas has been an energy lifeline for Texas and the nation since the World Wars—fueling our victories and sustaining our economy for generations. This groundbreaking marks a new chapter in that proud legacy. Most importantly, it brings new opportunities to rural East Texas — helping keep families together with good jobs, strong schools, and renewed hope for the future."

The lithium facility is designed to produce up to 3,000 metric tons per year of high-purity lithium salts by converting oil and gas waste streams into a marketable lithium product.  Select has maintained and operated this water network since for more than a decade and the lithium facility is located at a strategic collection point within the network that makes more than 70kbpd of water available at a single point, with almost double that volume available for processing across the broader network, without incurring the burden of new brine wells, new utility build-out, or other new infrastructure.

Select's Chairman of the Board, President and CEO John Schmitz added, "This project capitalizes on Select's market-leading infrastructure networks while also monetizing the resource potential of the large captive produced water volumes within these networks. By layering lithium extraction onto our existing water network, we continue to extract incremental value from the assets we've already built. It's exactly the type of multi-use infrastructure project that underpins our long-term growth and profitability goals.  In addition to this project, which we believe could generate up to $5mm of annual cash flow for Select, we have characterized the produced water across our entire U.S. infrastructure network for its mineral and resource potential and believe there remains additional opportunities for margin contribution to our Water Infrastructure segment and consolidated company in the future."

Site preparation began in July 2025, construction will continue through December 2026, and commercial production is targeted for the first half of 2027. Select remains firmly committed to focusing its growth capital on building the infrastructure needed to collect and handle large volumes of water for its oil and gas, municipal, industrial, and agricultural customers across the country.

"We're excited to be partnering with Select on this pioneering project for the U.S.," said Turner Caldwell, CEO and Co-Founder of Mariana Minerals. "Investing in domestic lithium production is a key part of rebuilding America's critical minerals base, and Mariana is committed to bringing GWh-scale lithium production capacity to the U.S. as quickly as possible. In parallel with unlocking commercial supply from the U.S.'s vast lithium resources contained in oil and gas produced water, this project represents a meaningful step forward in Mariana's autonomous refining platform that extends across the critical minerals value chain. This project also demonstrates Mariana's unique value proposition in the mineral extraction space as the first software-native developer and operator of critical minerals infrastructure, leveraging cutting edge AI-based technologies and reinforcement learning to deliver cost and production efficiencies to the front-lines."

This project exemplifies Select's strategy to develop new and creative ways to create value out of its existing water infrastructure — turning oil and gas waste streams into shareholder value — which in turn drives greater returns on already invested capital. By doing so, Select is enhancing the utility of its existing pipelines, disposal wells, treatment systems, and monitoring networks. This approach aligns with Select's broader capital strategy: maximize returns from its infrastructure base by layering on incremental, high-margin, revenue streams underpinned with fixed off-take and pricing contracts. 

About Select Water Solutions, Inc.

Select is a leading provider of sustainable water and chemical solutions to the energy industry. These solutions are supported by the Company's critical water infrastructure assets, chemical manufacturing and water treatment and recycling capabilities. As a leader in sustainable water and chemical solutions, Select places the utmost importance on safe, environmentally responsible management of water throughout the lifecycle of a well. Additionally, Select believes that responsibly managing water resources throughout its operations to help conserve and protect the environment is paramount to the Company's continued success.  For more information, please visit Select's website, https://www.selectwater.com.

About Mariana Minerals

Mariana Minerals is a software-first, vertically integrated minerals company focused on supplying the critical minerals powering modern energy, AI, and defense technologies. The company combines deep industry expertise with advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to accelerate mineral project development, commissioning, and operations. Mariana believes that bringing a manufacturing mindset to minerals production is paramount to building a sustainable, resilient supply chain for the critical materials that will power our future. For more information, please visit Mariana's website, https://www.marianaminerals.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this communication other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements which contain our current expectations about our future results. We have attempted to identify any forward-looking statements by using words such as "could," "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "intend," "project," "will," "estimates," "preliminary," "forecast" and other similar expressions. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the expectations of plans, business strategies, objectives and growth, projected financial results and future financial and operational performance, expected capital expenditures, our share repurchase program and future dividends. Although we believe that the expectations reflected, and the assumptions or bases underlying our forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results, events or financial positions to differ materially from those included within or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include the risks that the benefits contemplated from our recent acquisitions may not be realized, the ability of Select to successfully integrate the acquired businesses' operations, including employees, and realize anticipated synergies and cost savings and the potential impact of the consummation of the acquisitions on relationships, including with employees, suppliers, customers, competitors and creditors. Factors that could materially impact such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the global macroeconomic uncertainty related to the Russia-Ukraine war and related economic sanctions; the conflict in the Israel-Gaza region and related hostilities in the Middle East, including heightened tensions with Iran; the ability to source certain raw materials and other critical components or manufactured products globally on a timely basis from economically advantaged sources, including any delays and/or supply chain disruptions due to increased hostilities in the Middle East; actions by the members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries ("OPEC") and Russia (together with OPEC and other allied producing countries, "OPEC+") with respect to oil production levels and announcements of potential changes in such levels, including the ability of the OPEC+ countries to agree on and comply with supply limitations, which may be exacerbated by the recent Middle East conflicts; the severity and duration of world health events, and any resulting impact on commodity prices and supply and demand considerations; the impact of central bank policy actions, such as sustained, elevated  interest rates in response to, among other things, high rates of inflation, and disruptions in the bank and capital markets; the degree to which consolidation among our customers may affect spending on U.S. drilling and completions activity; changing U.S. and foreign trade policies, including increased trade restrictions or tariffs, the impact of changes in diplomatic and trade relations, and the results of countermeasures and any tariff mitigation initiatives; the level of capital spending and access to capital markets by oil and gas companies, trends and volatility in oil and gas prices, and our ability to manage through such volatility; the impact of current and future laws, rulings and governmental regulations, including those related to hydraulic fracturing, accessing water, disposing of wastewater, transferring produced water, interstate freshwater transfer, chemicals, carbon pricing, pipeline construction, taxation or emissions, leasing, permitting or drilling on federal lands and various other environmental matters; the impact of regulatory and related policy actions by federal, state and/or local governments, such as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,  that may negatively impact the future production of oil and gas in the U.S., thereby reducing demand for our services; the impact of advances or changes in well-completion technologies or practices that result in reduced demand for our services, either on a volumetric or time basis; changes in global political or economic conditions, generally, and in the markets we serve, including the rate of inflation and potential economic recession; and other factors discussed or referenced in the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and those set forth from time to time in our other filings with the SEC. Investors should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, unless required by law.

Contacts:	Select Water Solutions
	Garrett Williams – VP, Corporate Finance & Investor Relations
	(713) 296-1010
	IR@selectwater.com
	Dennard Lascar Investor Relations
	Ken Dennard / Natalie Hairston
	(713) 529-6600
	WTTR@dennardlascar.com

 

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SOURCE Select Water Solutions, Inc.

FAQ

What production capacity did Select Water Solutions and Mariana Minerals announce for the Joaquin lithium facility (WTTR)?

The facility is designed to produce up to 3,000 metric tons per year of high‑purity lithium salts.

When is commercial production for the WTTR‑linked Joaquin lithium facility expected to begin?

Site prep began July 2025, construction runs through December 2026, and commercial production is targeted in H1 2027.

How will Select (WTTR) participate financially in the Joaquin lithium project?

Select will supply and manage produced water via its network and will receive a royalty payment from Mariana Minerals.

What cash flow impact did Select (WTTR) project from the Joaquin lithium facility?

Select said the project could generate up to $5 million of annual cash flow for the company.

How much produced water is available at the Joaquin collection point tied to WTTR?

The site is at a strategic collection point with more than 70,000 barrels per day of water available at that single point.

Who will fund and operate the Joaquin lithium extraction facility associated with WTTR?

Mariana Minerals will fund, design, construct, and operate the facility while partnering with Select on water sourcing and management.