EnergyX To Build Lithium Refinery At Red River Army Depot Under Historic Army Lease
EnergyX has been awarded a conditional lease to build a battery-grade lithium processing facility on 100 acres at Red River Army Depot in Bowie County, the first commercial mineral plant on a U.S. military installation.
BOWIE COUNTY, Texas — EnergyX has been awarded a conditional long-term lease to build a battery-grade lithium processing facility on 100 acres at Red River Army Depot, the U.S. Army announced Thursday, marking the first time commercial mineral processing plants will be sited on American military installations.
The facility will produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate from domestic sources — materials essential to next-generation military power systems, tactical vehicle batteries and the broader U.S. energy supply chain.
“Bringing battery-grade lithium refining onto Army-controlled land is exactly the kind of public-private partnership America needs right now,” said Teague Egan, founder and CEO of EnergyX. “We’re proud the Army has placed its confidence in EnergyX, and we can’t wait to get to work alongside the Red River Army Depot team to turn 100 acres in Bowie County into a cornerstone of America’s critical minerals future.”
Formal lease agreements are in negotiation, with development expected to begin as early as 2027 and initial operating capability targeted by 2028.
A new model for Army-industry partnership
The lease is structured through an Enhanced Use Lease under 10 U.S.C. § 2667, which allows the Army to lease underutilized land to private partners at fair market value. The Army retains title to the land at all times, and the private lessee bears all costs of financing, design, construction, operation and eventual decommissioning.
In return, lessees pay rent as “in-kind” infrastructure improvements — upgrading utilities, roads and facilities on the host installation rather than cash. A mandatory decommissioning bond ensures the land can be returned to its original condition when the lease ends.
The Army said no taxpayer dollars are at risk in the arrangement.
TexAmericas Center proposal
The Red River Army Depot award comes days after TexAmericas Center announced that EnergyX had secured site control for roughly 330 acres near New Boston for a separate commercial-scale plant that would produce lithium iron phosphate cathode material — a key component in electric vehicle batteries, energy storage and defense platforms.
That project, a joint venture with San Diego-based Wildcat Discovery Technologies, was billed as a potential 500 million investment and would sit near both EnergyX’s existing Project Lonestar lithium operations and Red River Army Depot.
It is not clear how the two projects are connected or whether EnergyX intends to pursue both. TexAmericas Center stressed that the cathode plant remains contingent on EnergyX exercising its option to buy the site and securing financing — an open question after TXK Today reported last week that the company has never turned a profit, lost 20.9 million in 2025 and has raised much of its funding by selling stock to everyday investors through an online offering.
“EnergyX’s site control at TexAmericas Center is not a final project approval,” Eric Voyles, executive vice president of TexAmericas Center, said Tuesday.
National defense priority
The Red River Army Depot award is part of a broader Army initiative announced Thursday that also includes facilities at Anniston Army Depot in Alabama, Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas and Tooele Army Depot in Utah. Together they will process graphite, lithium, boron and rare earth elements used in munitions, missiles, sensors, batteries and armored vehicles.
“The ability to process critical minerals on U.S. soil is a national-defense priority required for munitions, missiles, sensors, batteries, and the platforms our Soldiers depend on,” said Dr. Jeff Waksman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment.
The awards are the first executed under President Trump’s Executive Order 14241 and the Army’s Strategic Capital Initiatives office.
No construction will begin until environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air and Water Acts and all required federal, state and local permits are complete, the Army said.
Egan said the partnership will be “the foundation for ensuring Project Lonestar delivers a secure, domestic supply of battery-grade lithium to support America’s growing energy, manufacturing, and national security needs.”