HOOKS, TEXAS — Battery materials developer Wildcat Discovery Technologies, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Holyvolt Group) and Energy Exploration Technologies, Inc. (EnergyX) have entered into a joint venture agreement to build a domestic lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode active material manufacturing facility.
The proposed facility will be constructed on a 330-acre site secured by EnergyX at the TexAmericas Center in Hooks, Texas, positioning it adjacent to EnergyX’s Project Lonestar™ lithium plant and near the Red River Army Depot. The project represents a total investment exceeding $230 million, backed by private-sector cost shares from the sponsors, with potential federal acceleration via pending Department of Energy (DOE) funding selections.
Establishing Scaled Domestic Capacity
The Phase 1 layout is designed to manufacture approximately 15,000 metric tonnes per annum (tpa) of LFP cathode active material, a foundational component for stationary energy storage systems, electric vehicles, defense platforms, and commercial drone technology.
By co-locating the cathode facility with EnergyX’s operations, the joint venture secures a structurally insulated supply chain. EnergyX controls approximately 50,000 acres of lithium mining rights beneath the site and will supply the majority, if not all, of the required lithium carbonate precursor material.
According to market estimates from IDTechEx, lithium precursors represent 60% to 85% of the total bill of materials for LFP cathode production. To mitigate the commodity price volatility that typical LFP manufacturers face, the supply agreement establishes commercially favorable terms for the JV, including a market-rate discount alongside defined price floors and ceilings.
“LFP cathode materials are essential to the future of energy storage, defense electrification, and affordable electric mobility, yet the United States remains heavily dependent on foreign supply,” said Mark Gresser, CEO of Wildcat. “This project is designed to help close that gap by combining Wildcat’s cathode materials technology and high-throughput development platform with EnergyX’s domestic lithium supply strategy.”
The “Battery Mecca” and Regional Economics
The infrastructure deployment is expected to create 150 direct, permanent manufacturing roles alongside 800 to 1,200 indirect and construction jobs in Northeast Texas. The joint venture plans to coordinate with regional workforce partners, community colleges, and veterans’ organizations to train chemical operators, technicians, and engineers.
Both entities have already validated demonstration-scale production capabilities—Wildcat refining cathode configurations in San Diego, California, and EnergyX processing lithium carbonate in Hooks, Texas. Wildcat’s roadmap includes successive high-density LFP iterations and future nickel- and cobalt-free chemistries. Concurrently, EnergyX’s pipeline encompasses lithium hydroxide for NMC chemistries, lithium metal anodes for solid-state batteries, and specialized lithium isotopes.
“This cathode plant is a critical step towards EnergyX’s larger vision of the Battery Mecca™,” added Teague Egan, Founder & CEO of EnergyX. “Cathode production is a natural next step, which will eventually include lithium metal anode production, and high energy density cell manufacturing. By pairing domestic cathode manufacturing with our domestic lithium supply, this project can help position Texas as a leader.”
Strategic Supply Chain Independence
With the vast majority of global LFP processing currently concentrated in Asia, the project serves as a key industrial gateway to insulate North American transportation and defense sectors from overseas supply-chain choke points.
“Localized battery and battery-material supply chains that are low-carbon, resilient, and strategically independent are essential to maintaining Western competitiveness,” noted Mathias Ingvarsson, Founder of Holyvolt Group, which acquired Wildcat in February 2026. “The proposed facility creates a pathway to bring next-generation proprietary cathode materials to market and to expand the use of Wildcat’s AI-ready, high-throughput materials platform.”
