New Lithium Processing Plant Locations

Oklahoma is emerging as the epicenter for U.S. critical minerals processing, an unexpected twist in the country's efforts to wean itself off Chinese rivals who have blocked exports. The country's only nickel refinery, its largest lithium refinery, two lithium-ion battery #recycling plants, a rare earths magnet facility, and several electronic waste collection facilities are under construction or in operation in the Sooner State - more than in any other state. "There's money flying into critical minerals from the investment side, so it might as well be located in Oklahoma," the state's governor, Kevin Stitt, told me. A #nickel refinery, in particular, has been sought by Washington for years but Chinese market dumping had scared away would-be entrants. Westwin Elements is now building the only machine in the United States capable of refining nickel, a crucial energy transition metal. KaLeigh Long founded Westwin and named it after her desire for the U.S. to shake off Chinese minerals dependence - as she told me: "The West will win." Elsewhere in the state, Stardust Power, Inc. is building a massive #lithium refinery - despite weak prices for the battery metal. "During these down cycles is the best time to be developing, because why do we want prices to be high when we have nothing to sell?" Stardust CEO Roshan Pujari told me. A major #rareearths magnet complex from USA Rare Earth, Inc. (Nasdaq: USAR) is also headed for Oklahoma. ""We can do this quickly. It's just a matter of how do we do it, and can the government help be a catalyst?" said CEO Joshua Ballard. The story also features Green Li-ion, Blue Whale Materials LLC, and even a special guest appearance by Country music star Reba McEntire. Here's my latest, for Reuters: https://lnkd.in/gSAQq5HC

Tesla has begun commissioning its lithium hydroxide refinery in Texas. Some observations on what has been reported: Feed: The facility began stockpiling Piedmont’s NAL spodumene concentrate from Quebec about a year ago. This will be combined with Liontown’s Kathleen Valley product from Western Australia. I believe the plant will eventually receive rail cars directly from Port of Corpus Christi in the Gulf of Mexico. Processing technology: I note some reporters (article below) are conflating the ‘acid-free’ process employed here with Tesla’s patent work on lithium clay processing technology. This is not the “just add salt” situation referenced at 2020 Battery Day. Tesla is deploying an industry first, acid-free, hard rock refining process that many before have looked at, such as the Keliber Oy project in Finland which is nearing completion. It’s an alkaline pressure leach process, which differs to the traditional sulfuric acid roasting process. Although both use rotary kilns to convert alpha-spodumene ore into beta-spodumene at the front end, here the calcined spod then goes into an autoclave (~200°C @ 20 bar) together with soda ash, an alkaline reagent. Liming & purification steps follow to produce lithium hydroxide. Notably, the process avoids bulk production of sodium sulfate waste which is difficult to dispose of in an environmentally sensible way, or to repurpose (unless you have certain industries nearby such as detergents, paper & pulp). Throughput: Previous indications had the plant producing ~20kt LiOH though its being reported there will be 50 GWh worth, which is roughly 30 ktpa LiOH by my numbers, so perhaps we will see higher than expected volumes. Next steps: Reminder the refinery’s battery grade lithium hydroxide is not yet ready to go into cells – it first needs to join with pCAM to create cathode active material. Although a cathode plant was planned for Giga Texas, the last I heard was the development team was largely disbanded earlier this year so perhaps this is on ice for now https://lnkd.in/gRDJhc4M

Standard Lithium’s $1.5B Arkansas Plant Moves Closer to Reality. (arkansasbusiness.com) "Four years ago, Standard Lithium Ltd. was the target of a scathing 10,000-word report from Hindenburg Research suggesting the Vancouver startup’s lithium brine work in south Arkansas might be just a stock scam. But now, Standard’s joint venture, Smackover Lithium, is on the cusp of a final investment decision to build a $1.5 billion lithium extraction plant in Lafayette County. And with growing investor interest in project finance, a new $130 million round of equity financing, and a $225 million grant from the Trump administration, “it’s time to build it.” That’s the conclusion of CEO David Park, a longtime Koch executive who took over leadership of Standard in September 2024. Park helped finalize a 55%-45% partnership with Equinor of Norway to launch Smackover Lithium, as well as a strategic partnership with Aquatech of Canonsburg, Virginia, to use its advanced direct lithium extraction technology." "In January 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy gave the South West Arkansas Project a boost with a $225 million grant. The government’s goal is to speed commercial lithium processing domestically, something that’s never been accomplished at a large scale. And in October, Standard closed a successful $130 million public offering to strengthen its financial position before commercialization. The Arkansas Oil & Gas Commission cleared other obstacles in 2025, setting an industry-favorable 2.5% royalty rate for landowners who own mineral rights in the brine fields, and granting regulatory approval for the South West Arkansas Project in October. That same month, Standard filed its definitive feasibility study, reporting high-grade lithium brine reserves on its 30,000 acres of brine leases in Lafayette and Columbia counties. And in September, Standard completed its fifth year of making small batches of lithium chloride at its pilot plant in El Dorado. That facility uses the bromine brine infrastructure of Lanxess, the German multinational chemical maker, to pump in brine, extract the lithium, and return the water deep underground through injection wells." https://lnkd.in/gHm6U7XH

Remember the Ganfeng that kicked off construction of a lithium plant in northern Nigeria to great fanfare in late 2023 ... but wasn't actually *that* Ganfeng? Well, according to corporate records obtained by Bloomberg, the Nigeria-registered Ganfeng has been taken over by two established Chinese lithium manufacturers -- Canmax and Jiuling -- which are continuing the mining and processing project in Nasarawa state. The acquisition took place in mid-2024 and forms part of efforts by Chinese firms to lock down feedstock across Africa -- from Mali to Zimbabwe -- in anticipation of soaring future demand for the metal used in EV batteries. https://lnkd.in/gasSvEY6 with Annie Lee and nduka orjinmo

The UK’s first commercial lithium mine is to open in Cornwall, following a new partnership between Imerys, the world leader in mineral-based solutions, and British Lithium. It has been estimated that the site contains enough lithium to sustain mining there for 30 years, producing around 20,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent annually. By the end of the decade, the mine should be producing enough of the metal for batteries to power 500,000 electrical vehicles per year. Paul Shearing, professor of sustainable energy engineering at the University of Oxford, says 'sourcing critical minerals to support battery manufacturing is essential to the growth of the electric vehicle industry, as well as the deployment of batteries in other applications such as grid-scale storage, in support of net zero. The developments for lithium mining domestically in the UK provides an exciting opportunity, increasing the available raw materials and improving the geographical diversity of supply. It also presents an opportunity to establish best practices locally for lithium extraction, which could be proximate to UK and European battery manufacture.’ #energytransition #electricvehicles #batteries #uk #lithium #extraction #rawmaterials #mineralresources