Blue Whale Materials celebrates Oklahoma facility expansion

Lithium-ion battery recycling company Blue Whale Materials (BWM), a portfolio company of Ara Partners, hosted a beam-signing ceremony Nov. 10  to celebrate the start of a major expansion at its Bartlesville, Oklahoma, facility. The company announced its expansion plans earlier this year.

Blue Whale began commissioning its baseline black mass plant in August, giving it the capacity to process up to 14,000 tons per year of battery manufacturing scrap into Blacksand, Blue Whale’s proprietary, high-purity black mass containing cobalt, nickel and lithium. With the need for domestic critical minerals, BWM’s Blacksand product is in high demand from refiners, material manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers in the battery supply chain, according to the company.

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The beam signing ceremony included members of Oklahoma’s federal and state leadership, the Bartlesville and Tulsa, Oklahoma, business communities and Blue Whale Materials executives and stakeholders.

Blue Whale Materials received a $55 million U.S. Department of Energy grant in January of this year, which the company says will increase annual processing capacity to more than 20,000 tons by the first quarter of 2026 and ultimately up to 50,000 tons per year as part of a four-year expansion plan.

“Today’s beam signing is a symbol of continued momentum," BWM co-founder and CEO Robert Kang says. "Our Bartlesville facility is already producing high-quality Blacksand, and this expansion demonstrates both the strength of our technology and the national importance of our mission.”

The expanded facility will include additional processing lines, an enhanced testing and grading center for end-of-life electric vehicle (EV) batteries and upgraded logistics and safety infrastructure, according to BWM. When completed, the project will add more than 150 high-quality jobs in Bartlesville and establish one of the largest preprocessing operations for lithium-ion batteries in North America.

“This milestone builds on the foundation we laid at commissioning,” BWM co-founder and chief strategy officer David Fauvre says. “The expansion will enable us to serve more partners, increase recovery volumes and accelerate the circular supply chain for lithium-ion batteries.”

“We think [Blacksand] is really well-positioned for what’s starting to happen now in the industry, which is the big cell manufacturers and OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] are moving much more towards this closed loop where they want to send their scrap and material to a recycler like us that can produce a product that can go back into their supply chain,” Fauvre told Recycling Today earlier this year. “I think now that the refiners are really looking at taking that black mass into their process to produce battery-grade metals, what they find is that a higher quality of black mass is really important to their process.

“We think where we’re approaching the market gives us a really strong opportunity to be part of those closed-loop arrangements that are going to be set up in the future.”

“Blue Whale Materials' expansion in Bartlesville represents the kind of innovation and investment that strengthens both Oklahoma's economy and manufacturing base and America's energy security,” U.S. Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma says. “This project reinforces domestic competitiveness by giving US suppliers a seat at the table and reducing dependence on adversaries for critical minerals."

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt says, “Oklahoma is the best state for business and the best state for critical mineral development. I’m proud Blue Whale chose to build here in Oklahoma and is choosing to expand its operations in our state. This is great for Oklahoma’s economy, bringing jobs and investment, and it is great for our nation’s security.”

“Ara Partners is proud to support Blue Whale Materials’ expansion in Bartlesville, which represents a major step forward for the domestic critical minerals supply chain,” adds Cory Steffek, a partner at Ara Partners, a Houston-based global private equity and infrastructure firm focused on next-generation industrial businesses. “We're proud of what the team has been able to accomplish thus far, and we're eager to see how their continued growth will strengthen American resilience for the future.”