Overview
The First Acid-Free Lithium Refinery
Ore in at the port, lithium hydroxide out to Giga Texas. Select a step to show its suppliers in the ring.
Tesla's lithium refinery in Robstown, Nueces County, west of Corpus Christi, turns spodumene concentrate into battery-grade lithium hydroxide. Construction began in May 2023, first lithium hydroxide came in December 2024, and Tesla called it fully operational in January 2026. Tesla says it is the largest lithium refinery in North America and the first industrial use of an acid-free refining route; the investment is more than $1B and Tesla expects about 250 full-time jobs.
The point is the dependency it removes. China refines most of the world's lithium, including much of the ore mined in Australia. Robstown takes ore that would otherwise go to Chinese refiners and refines it in Texas, for Tesla's own cells.
- OperatingSpodumene concentrateHard-rock ore concentrate through the Port of Corpus Christi
- OperatingKiln and coolerConverts the ore to a leachable form
- OperatingAlkaline leachNo sulfuric acid; the residue is Analcime, sold to concrete makers
- OperatingPurify and crystallizeBattery-grade lithium hydroxide
- OperatingCathode plant, Giga TexasLithium hydroxide becomes cathode material
- Operating4680 cells, Giga TexasFirst Cybertruck with Robstown lithium, September 2026
- PlannedRecycled feedstockBattery scrap and other intermediates, not yet in operation
- PlannedDomestic spodumeneElevra's Carolina Lithium and Albemarle Kings Mountain, years out
Process
Why the Alkaline Route Matters
Conventional refining roasts spodumene with sulfuric acid and leaves sodium sulfate as hazardous waste. Tesla's route uses an alkaline leach with lime and soda ash instead; the residue is Analcime, a sand-and-limestone-like material sold to concrete producers. That changes the reagents a refinery buys and the waste it ships, and it is why limestone from Texas quarries sits in this ring next to the kiln and crystallizer makers.
The cathode plant is at Giga Texas, not Robstown: lithium hydroxide goes about 200 miles north, becomes cathode material and goes into 4680 cells on the same campus. Tesla built the first Cybertruck with Robstown lithium in its cells in September 2026.
The supplier ring
The Robstown Supplier Ring
Each supplier placed by distance from Robstown and what it supplies.
- United States
- Europe
- Japan
- Taiwan and other
Select a supplier
Each dot is a supplier. Distance from the center is how close it sits to Robstown; the wedge is what it supplies; color is the parent company's home country. Outlined dots are plausible for this process but not named in Robstown sourcing.
The ring maps 40 suppliers. The feedstock wedge is the strategic one: Pilbara Minerals and Liontown in Western Australia, Elevra's North American Lithium mine in Quebec, and two domestic projects in North Carolina that are years from shipping. SQM's Atacama brine is in the dataset as a future option; the kiln route is built for hard rock, not brine.
Most of the process equipment rows (Andritz, FLSmidth, GEA, Metso, Fives) are flagged: plausible for this process, not named for Robstown. Only 18 rows are named for the site, mostly Tesla's own units, the Port, AEP Texas and the Nueces County water district.
All 40 suppliers as a table
| Supplier | Location | Serves | Proximity | Origin | Evidence | Also supplies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AEP Texas Robstown Grid Service | Corpus Christi, Texas | Site, utilities and construction | Nueces County | United States | Named for this site | SpaceX Starbase, Stargate Abilene |
| Air Liquide Industrial Gas Texas | Houston, Texas | Site, utilities and construction | Elsewhere in Texas | Europe | Named for this site | T1 Energy G2 Austin, Tesla Megapack Brookshire, Samsung Taylor, SpaceX Starbase, Tesla Giga Texas |
| Albemarle Kings Mountain Operations | Kings Mountain, North Carolina | Lithium feedstock | Elsewhere in the US | United States | Named for this site | Tesla Megapack Brookshire, Tesla Giga Texas |
| Alkaline Scrubber Systems | Multiple | Process equipment and reagents | Elsewhere in the US | United States | Generic or undisclosed | - |
| Analcime Co-Product Offtake | Corpus Christi, Texas | Tesla in-house and co-product | Elsewhere in Texas | United States | Generic or undisclosed | - |
| Andritz Process Equipment | Graz, Austria | Process equipment and reagents | Outside the US | Europe | Plausible, not named | - |
| Carolina Lithium Project | Gaston County, North Carolina | Lithium feedstock | Elsewhere in the US | United States | Named for this site | - |
| Caterpillar Backup Generators | Peoria, Illinois | Site, utilities and construction | Elsewhere in the US | United States | Plausible, not named | Tesla Megapack Brookshire, Fermi America, Meta Temple, Samsung Taylor, Tesla Giga Texas |
| Ecolab/Nalco Process Chemistry | Saint Paul, Minnesota | Process equipment and reagents | Elsewhere in the US | United States | Plausible, not named | Meta Temple |
| Elevra Lithium (formerly Piedmont + Sayona) | Brisbane, Australia | Lithium feedstock | Outside the US | Taiwan and other | Named for this site | - |
| Emerson Process Automation | Saint Louis, Missouri | Process equipment and reagents | Elsewhere in the US | United States | Plausible, not named | SpaceX Starbase |
| Fives Group Process Equipment | Paris, France | Process equipment and reagents | Outside the US | Europe | Plausible, not named | - |
| FLSmidth Kiln Equipment | Copenhagen, Denmark | Process equipment and reagents | Outside the US | Europe | Plausible, not named | - |
| GEA Group Crystallization Equipment | Dusseldorf, Germany | Process equipment and reagents | Outside the US | Europe | Plausible, not named | - |
| Hitachi Energy Substation Equipment | Zurich, Switzerland | Site, utilities and construction | Outside the US | Japan | Plausible, not named | Tesla Megapack Brookshire, Fermi America, Meta Temple, Samsung Taylor, Tesla Giga Texas |
| Industrial Conveyance Systems | Multiple | Process equipment and reagents | Elsewhere in the US | United States | Generic or undisclosed | - |
| Industrial Filter and Membrane Systems | Port Washington, New York | Process equipment and reagents | Elsewhere in the US | United States | Plausible, not named | - |
| Industrial Pumps for Process Operations | Irving, Texas | Process equipment and reagents | Elsewhere in Texas | United States | Plausible, not named | - |
| Limestone and Lime Supply | Texas | Process equipment and reagents | Elsewhere in Texas | United States | Generic or undisclosed | - |
| Linde Industrial Gas Operations | La Porte, Texas | Site, utilities and construction | Elsewhere in Texas | Europe | Named for this site | T1 Energy G2 Austin, Tesla Megapack Brookshire, Samsung Taylor, SpaceX Starbase, Tesla Giga Texas |
| Liontown Resources Kathleen Valley | Perth, Australia | Lithium feedstock | Outside the US | Taiwan and other | Named for this site | - |
| Metso (Outotec) Process Equipment | Helsinki, Finland | Process equipment and reagents | Outside the US | Europe | Plausible, not named | - |
| North American Lithium (NAL) Quebec Mine | Val-d'Or, Canada | Lithium feedstock | Outside the US | Taiwan and other | Named for this site | - |
| Nueces County Water Control District | Robstown, Texas | Site, utilities and construction | Nueces County | United States | Named for this site | - |
| Pilbara Minerals Pilgangoora | Perth, Australia | Lithium feedstock | Outside the US | Taiwan and other | Named for this site | - |
| Process Control and Automation Systems | Houston, Texas | Process equipment and reagents | Elsewhere in Texas | United States | Plausible, not named | - |
| Quanta Services Substation Construction | Houston, Texas | Site, utilities and construction | Elsewhere in Texas | United States | Plausible, not named | T1 Energy G2 Austin, Tesla Megapack Brookshire, Samsung Taylor, SpaceX Starbase, Tesla Giga Texas |
| Recycled Battery Feedstock | Multiple | Lithium feedstock | Elsewhere in the US | United States | Generic or undisclosed | - |
| Redwood Materials Recycling Operations | Carson City, Nevada | Lithium feedstock | Elsewhere in the US | United States | Named for this site | - |
| Regional Texas Industrial GCs | Corpus Christi, Texas | Site, utilities and construction | Elsewhere in Texas | United States | Generic or undisclosed | - |
| Schneider Electric Power Distribution | Andover, Massachusetts | Site, utilities and construction | Elsewhere in the US | Europe | Plausible, not named | Tesla Megapack Brookshire, Fermi America, Meta Temple, Samsung Taylor, Stargate Abilene, Tesla Giga Texas |
| Site Civil Construction | Robstown, Texas | Site, utilities and construction | Nueces County | United States | Generic or undisclosed | - |
| Specialty Steel for Process Equipment | Calvert, Alabama | Process equipment and reagents | Elsewhere in the US | Europe | Named for this site | SpaceX Starbase, Tesla Giga Texas |
| SQM Salar de Atacama Operations | Santiago, Chile | Lithium feedstock | Outside the US | Taiwan and other | Named for this site | - |
| Tesla Megapack On-Site Storage | Robstown, Texas | Site, utilities and construction | At Robstown | United States | Named for this site | - |
| Tesla Robstown Alkaline Leach System | Robstown, Texas | Tesla in-house and co-product | At Robstown | United States | Named for this site | - |
| Tesla Robstown CAM Precursor Plant | Robstown, Texas | Tesla in-house and co-product | At Robstown | United States | Named for this site | - |
| Tesla Robstown Crystallization Plant | Robstown, Texas | Tesla in-house and co-product | At Robstown | United States | Named for this site | - |
| Tesla Robstown Kiln + Cooler System | Robstown, Texas | Tesla in-house and co-product | At Robstown | United States | Named for this site | - |
| Veolia Water Treatment Texas | Houston, Texas | Site, utilities and construction | Elsewhere in Texas | Europe | Plausible, not named | Meta Temple, Samsung Taylor |
Constraints
Feedstock
The refinery depends on ore it does not control. The Australian mines that supply it also sell into Chinese refiners under long-term contracts, and no US spodumene mine is producing yet. Until Carolina Lithium or Kings Mountain ships, Robstown is a domestic refinery for imported ore.
Water is the other limit on the coast, where the Corpus Christi region has faced drought restrictions. Nueces County supplies process water; the refinery's demand competes with the petrochemical plants and LNG terminals on the same system.
Record
Dataset Record
- Dataset
- Tesla lithium refinery supplier ring (tlithium), 40 suppliers
- Evidence
- Named for Robstown solid; flagged as plausible outlined; generic supply paths hollow
- Origin
- Home country of the parent company
- Also supplies
- Operator matched against the other anchor rings in the Supplier Rings workbook
- Last verified
- Q4 2026