Lithium Refinery

[patric]

A Connecticut energy startup company plans to build a lithium refinery just outside Tulsa, on an unspecified 66-acre site with access to the Kerr-McClellan Navigation System. The Mid-America Industrial Park fits their description of the property and has been actively recruiting industries related to electric vehicle production.

The company expects to recruit and retrain old and gas workers to help build the workforce they need and utilize oil and gas wastewater as one source for production.

"Stardust Power’s strategy is to become a leading producer of battery grade lithium products in the U.S. The Company believes that designing a large central refinery optimized for multiple inputs of brine lithium feedstock provides an opportunity to scale production rather than the dependence on single assets."
https://www.news9.com/story/655fc60db7abe706bd817bc5/company-planning-to-build-lithium-refinery-in-oklahoma

One one hand, it could mean less fracking wastewater being injected into tectonic faults or ending up "leaking" on rural roads. On the other hand, it would be
shipped to Tulsa. Should people be worried or just happy to have jobs?

[SXSW]

Where is the 66 acre site? 

[kvanover]

I can tell you it is not MidAmerica Industrial Park.

[SXSW]

My guess is somewhere at the Port of Catoosa

[patric]

My guess is somewhere at the Port of Catoosa

(KOTV) Stardust Energy CEO Roshan Pujari said Friday his company was addressing a shortage of refinery capacity to process raw material that is readily available in the United States.

His company, he said, intends to use the Kerr-McClellan Navigation Channel for shipping lithium brine water to the refinery and to ship battery-grade lithium out.

Documents say the project would be supported by state and municipal incentives, and Pujari said the federal government would likely add incentives because of the national security value of a U.S.-based lithium refinery."

Pujari would not specify where the refinery would be built but said the company had secured 66 acres of “shovel-ready” land with plentiful power from renewable energy.

Mid-America Industrial Park in Pryor has been recruiting electric vehicle-related production and is the site of a Canoo battery module assembly plant.

A spokesperson for Tulsa Ports said it was not involved with the project.