Westwin preparing to launch federal permitting process for refinery

Westwin Elements has treatment-related permits it needs for its pilot plant and is preparing to launch the process necessary for permitting its commercial refinery.

Those details, to include plans for $265 million through two federal grants to help fund that cobalt/nickel refinery, were among the updates Westwin Elements CEO KaLeigh Long provided to members of the Comanche County Industrial Development Authority (CCIDA) Friday at a briefing. CCIDA is stepping back from its prominent role in the Westwin pilot plant project at Southwest 112th Street and Bishop Road, after providing $2 million and 40 acres of land as part of a local economic incentive package granted for a project estimated at $14 million to $16 million. While CCIDA has been involved with the project since August 2022, the local lead players in that process now are the City of Lawton and the Lawton Economic Development Authority (LEDA), which the City Council has designated as the oversight entity.

Long has said the pilot plant will provide the data Westwin needs for a bankable feasibility study that banks and investors will want before providing funding for the $732.5 million full-scale refinery (the pilot plant is a scaled down version of the refinery). While the immediate focus is on the pilot plant, Long said company experts are ready to launch the permitting process for the refinery, a process expected to take 18 to 24 months to complete.

Long said she and her staff have been meeting with federal officials to discuss the implications of the nation’s first cobalt/nickel refinery, to include SoCom (Special Operations Command, a part of the Department of Defense).

She also said Westwin is in the running for a $185 million grant from the Department of Energy, and has recently received approval of its concept without any identified deficiencies, meaning Westwin can begin the final application phase. Long said that grant application is due by March 8, with federal officials expected to announce their selections in August. Long said she is confident Westwin will be one of those selected, which also is why the Westwin team is seeking letters of support from local entities, including CCIDA, LEDA and the City of Lawton. CCIDA indicated its support Friday, while the other entities are expected to address the issue before Westwin’s self-imposed March 1 deadline.

Those letters of support are part of the community engagement process that will be important to the grant application because they show the community’s commitment, said Long and Jeannie Bowden, Westwin’s chief project manager.

It’s not the only grant funding source. Westwin also is looking at an $80 million grant from the Department of Defense, something that will be a longer process because the application requirements include an environmental impact analysis.

“Those are the most extensive reviews on the planet,” Long said.

Westwin also is working with state officials to obtain a Letter of Intent (LOI) from the State of Oklahoma, showing its support.

“It was well-received,” Bowden said of Westwin’s request for an LOI, adding there is interest, but movement has been slowed by the start of the 2024 legislative session (Long said she expects an answer on the LOI by the end of the month).

Westwin hasn’t announced a firm location for its commercial refinery, but Long said Friday “our full intention is to have Lawton as the site of that commercial plant.” The $24 million local incentive package being offered to Westwin is based on that commercial refinery, with the $3 million in cash and 40 acres of land coming from that full package (the remainder will be held in escrow until the full plant is built in Lawton).

Long said the commercial plant won’t be coming alone. Other companies that would support the refinery also are interested in Lawton, and Long predicted community leaders can expect to see other companies “stand up in that (industrial) park.”

“It’s moving,” she said of the project, adding Westwin officials are on track to have the details of the full-scale refinery in place by 2026 and that the LOI from the State of Oklahoma would support other companies in what she describes as a “cluster of other critical mineral companies.”