Energy
Stardust Power Raises $15M to Advance Preconstruction Work at Okla. Lithium Refinery
Funding backs engineering, site readiness as Muskogee project awaits state permits and construction financing
Rendering of proposed lithium refinery location at the Port of Muskogee’s Three Forks Harbor in Oklahoma. The project remains in preconstruction, with engineering advancing ahead of state permitting and construction financing.
Stardust Power Inc., a Greenwich, Conn.-based developer focused on building domestic lithium refining capacity, has secured up to $15 million in senior-secured convertible debt financing to advance early-stage work on its planned lithium refinery in Muskogee, Okla.
The company said the financing will provide bridge capital for engineering and procurement while it pursues state permits and full project-level construction financing. Securities filings show the facility includes an initial $4-million draw intended to fund detailed engineering, infrastructure planning and procurement as the company works toward construction of a planned battery-grade lithium carbonate refinery designed to produce 50,000 metric tons per year.
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Regulatory Information
Stardust Power |
SEC Form 8-K Filing
Stardust does not mine raw materials. Instead, it plans to process lithium-bearing feedstocks into refined material for battery manufacturers, positioning the Muskogee project in the midstream segment of the battery supply chain rather than in extraction or battery cell manufacturing.
Public state permitting databases reviewed by ENR did not show filings under Stardust Power or common name variations for state air, water or waste permits tied to the Muskogee refinery as of Dec. 28. Those approvals are required before full-scale construction of a chemical processing facility can begin.
In Oklahoma, environmental permitting for large industrial projects is overseen by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, which regulates air emissions, wastewater discharges, stormwater and waste handling. Industrial water supply approvals are handled separately by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.
The project held a ceremonial groundbreaking in January 2025, but state environmental permits required for full construction have not yet been filed or issued, indicating subsequent activity has remained limited to early site and preconstruction work.
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Stardust has not announced an engineering, procurement and construction contractor, nor has it disclosed a final construction cost or schedule. Requests for additional project details were not returned by press time.
The Muskogee project is part of a broader push to expand U.S. refining and conversion capacity for battery materials, a segment researchers and policymakers have described as technically demanding. “Separating lithium selectively and efficiently from complex mixtures remains one of the most significant technical challenges in building a domestic lithium supply chain,” Venkat Srinivasan, director of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science at Argonne National Laboratory, said in published research on lithium-processing technologies.
Until state permits are filed and construction financing is secured, activity on the Muskogee project is expected to remain focused on engineering and other preconstruction work rather than vertical construction.
Bryan Gottlieb is the online editor at Engineering News-Record (ENR).
Gottlieb is a five-time Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism award winner with more than a decade of experience covering business, construction and community issues, including finance, law and real estate. He has reported for Adweek and the San Diego Daily Transcript and led a community newsroom in Santa Monica, Calif. He served as editor-in-chief of the Detroit Metro Times and as managing editor at Roofing Contractor, where he helped shape national industry coverage. At Engineering News-Record, Gottlieb covers breaking news, large-scale infrastructure and megaprojects, regulatory developments and business trends across the U.S. and global construction sectors.
email: gottliebb@enr.com | office: (248) 786-1591
