[SMM New Energy] TÜV Rheinland Officially Approved as a Notified Body Under the EU Battery Regulation

[SMM Flash] A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Dachaidan, Haixi, Qinghai on June 16, 2026. According to SMM, lithium chemical production in most areas of Qinghai has not been affected for the time being. SMM will continue to follow up on subsequent impacts.

Stardust Power announced on June 16 that it has commenced site engineering activities at its lithium refinery project in Muskogee, Oklahoma, marking a further step from the FEL-3 front-end engineering stage toward execution-level design. According to the company, Brown & Root has been engaged to carry out related geotechnical work, including site borings and subsurface investigations. The work is intended to assess underground conditions at key locations across the site and provide supporting data for subsequent civil design, foundation design, procurement and construction planning.According to Stardust Power’s previous plan, the Muskogee lithium refinery is designed to produce up to 50,000 mt/year of battery-grade lithium carbonate. Once completed, the project is expected to become one of the largest lithium refining facilities in the US. SMM believes this progress indicates that US domestic lithium refining projects are continuing to move toward engineering execution. However, the project remains at the site engineering and execution-design preparation stage, and further attention should be paid to financing progress, final investment decision, commencement of major construction and the actual delivery schedule.