Construction beginning on Westwin’s cobalt/nickel pilot plant

Steel forms are reaching into the sky at the southwest Lawton site of the pilot plant being built for Westwin Elements.

At the same time, a new 20-inch water main is going into the ground along Southwest 97th Street as part of infrastructure upgrades promised by the City of Lawton for the plant site.

Westwin Elements is planning a pilot plant on 40 acres at the site located at Bishop Road and Southwest 112th Street, a scaled-down version of what company officials say will be the first cobalt/nickel refinery in the United States. The pilot plant is designed to provide the data needed for a bankable feasibility study, a document that banks and investors will need before providing funding for the project, local financial officials say.

That pilot plant was specified in a new agreement that Westwin, the Lawton City Council, the Lawton Economic Development Authority and the Comanche County Industrial Development Authority (CCIDA) all agreed to and set into place in December.

Westwin officials said Tuesday that construction has begun on the 4,680-square-foot steel building that will serve as the preliminary test facility, with the existing steel infrastructure comprising the center of the plant. The foundation has been poured for the entire building and earthwork is going on at the site as well.

Under the terms of the redevelopment agreement, the site is to contain the preliminary test facility that will establish the capabilities to refine cobalt ore, nickel ore and other critical elements, as well as a 4,906-square-foot building for administration, maintenance and storage. The plant must be fully operational by Dec. 1 under the terms of the redevelopment agreement. Westwin officials expect to be in the testing phase by mid-summer.

Less than a mile away, on the north end of Southwest 97th Street, work crews from M&T Septic & Backhoe have begun a $2.44 million project that will lay 7,500 feet of 20-inch water main. That line will be placed along Southwest 97th Street to Bishop Road, then west on Bishop Road to the plant site. Work must be completed within 90 days, under the terms of M&T’s contract with the City of Lawton.

The installation is part of an estimated $7 million in infrastructure work the City of Lawton is providing the Westwin project. In addition, the redevelopment agreement specifies the City of Lawton will provide $1 million and CCIDA $2 million as part of incentive package for what Westwin is estimating as a $14 million to $16 million pilot plant project. Westwin also will lease the 40 acres from its owner (CCIDA) for $1 a year, with the potential of receiving full ownership of that land as well as 440 acres remaining from the 480 acres that is part of the full Westwin incentive package.