Details on Westwin’s delayed future as Georgia rumors surge

Rumors that the company behind the nickel refinery built in Lawton, Westwin Elements, is moving to Georgia have become increasingly prevalent. At the moment, the company has been stating they’re awaiting the completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) in order to move on to the next step. Many in the Lawton community have taken issue with the organization from day one, not only around the company’s practices, but also the way city officials have communicated with citizens on the matter.

Currently, the company is in the middle of three separate lawsuits. One with a former partnering company, one with a former employee, and one with a capital investment company. During this same time, officials with the company have been making their presence known more in Savannah, Georgia.

Deadlines that never arrived

Back in August, multiple city officials to include Brad Cooksey, the President of the Lawton Economic Development Corporation, alluded to an announcement that would come out at the beginning of September regarding the company. However, when the next month rolled around, nothing was said or shared. It has since been three months since the community was promised an update. Meanwhile, parties remain ambiguous about details.

Dark Roast reached out to Cooksey for clarification on why no information was shared. According to Cooksey, LEDC is waiting just like everyone else.

“We’re waiting on our toes, waiting for the next move,” Cooksey stated.

Cooksey went on to state that there was no contractual deadline for this BFS. The September deadline was just a verbal estimation by Westwin officials, according to Cooksey. However, he stated that it is still up in the air on whether or not the company will stay in Lawton. One of the main reasons the process is taking as long as it has is the complexity of the study due to the type of industry Westwin is a part of and the size of the project. Meanwhile, this wasn't the first time Westwin officials have given an estimation on when the study might be complete, which didn't materialize.

For example, earlier this year, Westwin CEO Kaleigh Long gave a presentation at the 2025 SAFE Summit. During her speech, she made a statement alluding to the potential of breaking ground on the full-scale commercial facility.

“We do intend to break ground on a commercial plant in August of this year,“ Long stated.

After being informed of this speech, Dark Roast reached out to Westwin this past summer. We asked where the location of the full-scale facility will be since they had expectations on groundbreaking. In their response, officials stated a location had not been finalized as they were still waiting on the study. We then asked for clarification on how they had a plan to break ground without a completed study and what the reason for this particular delay was.

“Companies build their plans around long-range projections, and when assumptions shift, those projections must shift as well. We are actively preparing for execution as we await the results of our Bankable Feasibility Study, the details of which remain confidential,” explained Marissa Espinosa, Westwin’s Public Relations Manager.

When asked about the efforts put in by LEDC to keep the community informed, Cooksey reiterated the fact that it’s a waiting game on the company to complete their study. 

In addition, Dark Roast also reached out to Westwin Elements over the rumors. 

“Thanks for reaching out. The BFS is still undergoing third-party validation,” stated Espinosa. “As I believe we have discussed, multiple sites remain under review for potential commercial selection, and no final determination can be made until we receive the validated BFS and evaluate recommendations.”

Increased presence in Georgia

While Westwin’s next move has been up in the air for months, despite the rumors, the company has been actively increasing their presence in Georgia. On Oct. 1, 2025 they registered under the Georgia Secretary of State as a Foreign Profit Corporation. For clarification, filing under the Secretary of State allows a business or other entity to legally perform business in that specific state. 

In addition to Georgia, Westwin has filed in multiple other states. Dark Roast searched all 50 states’ SOS websites and found the following:

State - Filing # - Filing Date

Alabama - 001-217-890 - 10/30/2025

Delaware - 6858689 - 6/15/2022

Georgia - 25194669 - 10/1/2025

Kentucky - 1457953 - 5/21/2025

Louisiana - 465526101F - 6/17/2025

Missouri - F001433832 - 6/17/2025

However, what makes the State of Georgia different from the rest is the happy hour that was hosted at the JW Marriott Plant Riverside District in Savannah. The Briefing and Happy Hour event was posted to the company's LinkedIn and took place on Nov. 19. After a search, from what Dark Roast could find, this was the only event hosted outside of Oklahoma on LinkedIn aside from two events in Midland, TX on August 27 and July 15.

Records exempt from disclosure

In a search for records within these other states mentioning Westwin, Dark Roast reached out to officials with the Georgia Department of Economic Development. In this request, we asked for any communication between the State of Georgia or the Department of Economic Development and Westwin Elements. After only a few days, we received a response.

According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s General Counsel, Sara Gershon, approximately 320 emails and attachments are exempt from disclosure under a state statute. Under OCGA 50-18-72(a)(46), the documents are exempt from disclosure due to them pertaining to an active economic development project. Only after the project goes into a binding agreement or is terminated will they be released. 

The 37-page document Dark Roast received contained a handful of emails from multiple officials from both the State of Georgia and Westwin Elements. According to the emails, the lead for Westwin’s refinery came out of Georgia’s Congressman Buddy Carter’s office. This lead is what put Westwin’s team in contact with multiple Georgia officials.

However, these emails took place back in 2022, the same year that Westwin filed their company in Delaware. The two parties ended up scheduling a meeting to discuss the Westwin project around the middle of August 2022. Using what the state statute is saying, since documents are still exempt from disclosure, the State of Georgia and Westwin Elements have been in discussion for around three years now.

At the same time, according to the data above, Georgia is one of the most recent states Westwin has filed with.

With all of this said, this is not stating that Westwin is relocating to Georgia, as there could be many different outcomes of the situation. This article is to provide as much information to the community as possible, on the front-end, as everyone waits for the study to be completed and an announcement to be made.