Westwin Elements, Lawton entities to host town hall on refinery project

Westwin Elements and Lawton economic development entities will sponsor a town hall meeting Wednesday to answer questions about the new pilot plant planned for southwest Lawton.

The meeting is set from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in McMahon Memorial Auditorium, 801 NW Ferris.

Officials with Westwin Elements, Lawton Economic Development Authority, Comanche County Industrial Development Authority and Lawton Economic Development Corporation will be at the meeting to answer questions from residents about the cobalt/nickel refinery project and its impact on the community.

Local officials and Westwin Elements broke ground on a 40-acre tract in August, the proposed site for a $10.6 million pilot plant that will be a mini-version of the full-sized cobalt/nickel refinery. That pilot plant, which will be a functioning refinery, is being built to provide the data necessary for a bankable feasibility study, the document that is necessary for banks and investors who will participate in the full-scale project.

Westwin Elements CEO KaLeigh Long has said design plans for the pilot plant are done and she expects to break ground in October and meet the March 1, 2024, completion deadline cited in the local incentive package given to the company. The City of Lawton and Comanche County Industrial Development Authority agreed earlier this summer to release $3 million of the $24 million local incentive package for the pilot plant project.