Good afternoon, and welcome to the Stardust Power, Inc. third quarter 2024 earnings call. My name is Cherie, and I'll be your operator today. Before this call, Stardust Power issued its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024, in a press release. Joining us on today's call are Stardust Power's founder and CEO, Roshan Pujari, and CFO, Uday Devasper. Following their remarks, we will open the call for questions. Before we begin, Johanna Gonzalez, Stardust Power's director of investor relations and communications, will make a brief introductory statement. Ms. Gonzalez, please proceed. Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone. Before management begins their formal remarks, we would like to remind everyone that some statements we're making today may be considered forward-looking statements under securities laws and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. As a result, we caution you that there are a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. For more detailed risks, uncertainties, and assumptions relating to our forward-looking statements, please see the disclosures in our earnings release and public filings made with the SEC. We disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made, except as required by law. We refer you to our filings with the SEC for detailed disclosures and descriptions of our business, as well as uncertainties and other variable circumstances, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties identified under the caption "Risk Factors" in our recent filings. You may get Stardust Power's SEC filings by visiting the SEC website at www.sec.gov. I would like to remind everyone this call is being recorded and will be made available for replay via a link available in the investor relations section of Stardust Power's website. Now, I will turn the call over to Stardust Power's CEO, Roshan Pujari. Roshan? Thank you, Johanna, and thank you all for joining us today. Welcome to the Stardust Power third quarter 2024 earnings call. I'd like to briefly discuss the macro environment before providing an update on the development of Stardust Power's lithium refinery. Stardust Power was founded on the idea the world needs more battery-grade lithium to power the energy transition, which we believe is not only essential to satisfy demand for power but is important to U.S. national security. Over the past decade, we have seen the demand and potential demand for lithium increase due to the growth of lithium-ion batteries. These batteries are essential to electric vehicles. Currently, we see a large demand and limited supply of lithium and even less refining capacity globally. Critical materials, and in particular battery-grade lithium, are a national security priority for the United States. According to a 2024 benchmark study, China dominates the market with an estimated 65% of the lithium market due to their stranglehold on global lithium refining capacity. We believe it is essential that we're able to refine battery-grade lithium domestically in the United States. As the founder, this is the opportunity that we saw from our collective experience in the industry. At Stardust Power, our mission is to secure U.S. energy leadership through the production of IRA-compliant battery-grade lithium. To that end, Stardust Power is working towards building one of the largest lithium refineries in North America. The facility will be centrally located in the United States and in proximity to both offtake and supply. The refinery will be located in Muskogee, Oklahoma, with a projected annual production capacity of up to 50,000 metric tons per year. The site is approximately 66 acres with an option for an additional 40 acres. We chose this site for three main reasons. First, as mentioned, it is centrally located in the United States with projected access to multi-module logistics, including the largest inland waterway system in America, and to roads and railway that can access 92% of the U.S. population within 24 hours. Second, it is in proximity to both offtake customers and feedstock supply. Third, there is access to a highly skilled workforce from the oil and gas sector. There is a legacy oil and gas sector workforce, which we can tap into in Oklahoma. We are developing the refinery in two phases. The first phase is the construction of up to 25,000 metric tons per annum production line. The second phase is to add a second production line of an additional up to 25,000 metric tons per annum to create a total capacity of up to 50,000 metric tons per annum. In phase I, we will build the back end of the production line first, processing a technical-grade lithium into battery-grade lithium carbonate. We believe building the back end of the line first allows us to generate revenue quicker and get to market faster with our supply. Following this step, we will continue to build the balance of the line, which could enable us to process lithium chloride feedstock into battery-grade lithium carbonate. The first phase is expected to take approximately 18- 24 months to build. We are planning to start earthworks early and are in the process of securing critical long-lead equipment ahead of time. We anticipate efficiencies in phase II, leading to a reduction in time of construction. The total expected capital expenditures needed to build the facility is estimated at $1.2 billion, which currently includes a 40% contingency allocation. The first phase will cost approximately $690 million, with the second phase costing approximately $510 million. Turning to supply, we are optimizing the design of our refinery for multiple sources of brine feedstock so we can aggregate supply and scale manufacturing of battery-grade lithium products more efficiently. We are investing upstream by securing offtake agreements with potential suppliers such as IG Lithium LLC and Usha Resources. Our central refinery provides an opportunity for raw material producers that might not be able to develop their projects otherwise. We can develop or co-develop lithium assets to augment supply at projects such as Jackpot Lake in Nevada and others. We plan to use a combination of off-the-shelf technology and best-in-class DLE technology, which would limit the technology risk for our business. We have a robust pipeline to supplement our supply and seek to have more news in the upcoming months. Given rising geopolitical tensions and the ability for China to threaten supply, the U.S. has facilitated grants and funding to support the energy transition, including lithium refining. The state of Oklahoma has identified up to $257 million of largely state incentives. Federal incentives potentially worth billions of dollars exist as well, and we have planned to apply for available incentives and opportunities for which we qualify to help offset those costs. Stardust Power is expected to source from North America or Inflation Reduction Act-compliant countries. Processing inside the United States is also expected to make us IRA and/or FTA-compliant. We will seek to source from and sell to allied country customers and companies and bolster the energy transition. At Stardust Power, sustainability is built into each step of our process. These principles guide us in creating long-term value for our business, being a responsible corporate citizen while addressing the pressing challenges of climate change and the energy transition. We are developing a strong North American critical material supply chain, which is secure, safe, and sustainable in each aspect. It starts with our choice of extraction. We are designing our production lines with zero liquid discharge. Our facility will be almost fully electric while keeping our options open for infrastructure readiness, allowing us to minimize air emissions and be option-rich down the line as we scale. The existing grid draws as much as 70% of its power from sustainable sources such as wind, hydro, and natural gas. We are also evaluating the use of solar power in the future at our site. Lastly, our main byproduct is a type of salt, a similar grade to a road salt, which can be sold and used. On July 8, 2024, we completed our merger with Global Partner Acquisition Corp II and listed on the NASDAQ Global Market. At the same time, we raised approximately $12 million in conjunction with the listing. We were delighted to ring the opening bell on the NASDAQ on July 12, culminating in more than a year's work and one step closer to breaking ground on one of the largest lithium refining plants in North America. We have made important personnel hires. We welcome Paramita Das as Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Advisor to the CEO. With more than 20 years of leadership experience in some of the world's largest metals and minerals companies, Paramita will support the company's next phase of commercialization and development. Adam Johnson also joined us as Chief Commercial Officer with extensive experience in M&A, government relations, and other commercial endeavors in the metals and mining space. On October 8, the company announced it entered into a 90-day exclusivity period with KMX Technologies, Inc., during which the parties will negotiate the exclusive licensing in North America for KMX's vacuum membrane distillation technology for the lithium sector, which separates lithium from water sources. This could potentially have significant capital and operating expense savings for the company, as well as potentially reduce the energy and carbon intensity of the refining process. We are working to finalize definitive agreements. We also announced the engagement of MUFG Bank as lead financial advisor to Stardust Power. MUFG will assist with structuring and financing of our first phase of the project. We chose MUFG due to their abilities as one of the largest banks globally and their extensive experience in the natural resources sector. Turning to business updates. This past August, we announced the selection of Primero USA to complete a front-end loaded level three or definitive engineering study. We are now in month four of the study, and 15% of the engineering study has been completed, with 40% of process design in progress. We have obtained Oklahoma Department of Transportation approval for a permanent access driveway from Highway 64, with OG&E providing a 161 kV electrical line and substation for the refinery. The geotechnical study has been completed and poses no major challenges to the site's surface or subsurface. The land has less than a 2% gradient, which requires minimum cut and fill requirements, meaning reduced initial CapEx, and we anticipate breaking ground on the site in the next eight weeks. Turning to permits and ongoing site activities, bid documents for initial site preparation are in progress, as is stormwater permitting with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. All trade-off studies have been completed, and vendor quotations have been requested for more than half of all of our priority mechanical equipment items. We have been proactive in our workforce development. We are working with the Indian Capital Technology Center, a local technology school, and universities such as Oklahoma State University, where they have demonstrated they are aligning their programs with employment opportunities our business creates. We are also engaging with America Works in Muskogee to provide jobs for workers. Through the Port of Muskogee, Stardust Power and other manufacturers in the area have funded scholarships for individuals interested in the manufacturing, further supporting working workforce development. In response to the milestones achieved on our execution roadmap, Stardust Power has amplified its government engagement strategy to align closely with the advancing stages of its operational and innovation objectives. As part of these efforts, Stardust Power is enhancing its outreach with federal and state policymakers to build a deeper public-private partnership and foster regulatory alignment, securing potential funding avenues that support sustainable energy solutions. Key initiatives for 2025 include establishing dedicated government affairs resources to actively engage with relevant committees of jurisdiction, increase participation in policy forums on clean energy, and strengthen collaborative networks with key agencies overseeing renewable energy initiatives. These proactive measures could potentially position Stardust Power to leverage legislative and regulatory developments and advance its mission to lead in energy innovation. In recent months, Stardust Power has participated in key state-level events such as the Oklahoma State University Polytech Rural Workforce Roundtable and the Select Oklahoma Conference on Economic Development. The company sponsored the Tulsa Renewable Business Alliance Annual Summit in September and attended the Port of Muskogee Business Industry Awards in October. Our Managing Director, John Riesenberg, recently represented Stardust Power at the State Chamber of Oklahoma Fly-In in Washington, D.C. Turning to upcoming milestones, we are moving towards some very exciting and potentially transformative milestones for the company. Breaking ground at the Muskogee site and starting major construction for phase I, completing the FEL-3 study or FID phase, which will determine how much the project will cost and build to roll out. It is an exciting and busy time for our team, where we are all laser-focused on execution and meeting these milestones on time to deliver value for our shareholders, and with that, I now turn to Uday Devasper, our Chief Financial Officer, for his remarks on financials. Uday? Thank you, Roshan, and good afternoon, everyone. It is great to be here on our first earnings call as a public company for our third quarter 2024. Before we begin, I want to clarify that we will not be providing forward-looking guidance or estimates during this call. Our focus will be on discussing our past performance and the current state of our business. We encourage you to refer to our filings with the SEC for more detailed information. First, a quick update on some developments post-quarter end. We recently entered into a common stock purchase agreement with B. Riley Principal Capital II LLC, which will allow us to sell up to $50 million in newly issued shares of common stock to B. Riley, subject to certain conditions, to support our ongoing liquidity needs. The proceeds will be predominantly used for G&A purposes. As we look forward to the build-out of the refinery, we will endeavor to raise a substantial portion of the overall financing from non-dilutive capital sources such as bank financing, potential prepayment facilities based on our offtake agreements, as well as the opportunity to seek government funding under the various grant and loan programs that Roshan mentioned. We believe Stardust Power positions well for investors in the long term. Now, turning to the financials for the quarter, the company is pre-revenue currently. We believe that the cash on hand investments obtained at the time of closing of the business combination, as well as the agreement with B. Riley, will satisfy the company's working capital and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months. As of September 30, 2024, we had cash and cash equivalents of $1.6 million on hand compared to $1 billion on hand as of September 30, 2023. As of September 30, 2024, we had zero long-term debt. There was a net loss of $10 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024, compared to $0.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2023, driven by higher expenses in the post-public listing phase to complement increased scope of operations and the impact from non-cash items such as the revaluation of warrant liability and share-based compensation expenses. The loss per share was $0.22 for the three months ended September 30, 2024, compared to $0.02 for the three months ended September 30, 2023, driven by a higher net loss. Net cash used in operating activities totaled $8.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, compared to $1.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023, driven by continued investment in operations, hiring of key talent, and certain expenses related to the close of the business combination. Net cash used in investing activities was $1.3 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2024, compared to $0.00 during the nine months ended September 30, 2023, driven by our initial capital investments made in the anticipated building of the refinery and promissory notes given to our partners. We are investing upstream by seeking supply agreements with our partners. These notes provide us exclusivity while we conduct our due diligence. Net cash provided by financing activities was $10.1 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2024, compared to $2.5 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2023. The increase was driven primarily by $12 million in cash received from subscription agreements entered around the time of the closing of the business combination. We used the funds to meet our third quarter working capital needs and pay for some of the transaction costs related to the business combination. And that concludes my remarks. With that, we are now happy to take your questions. Operator? Thank you. To ask a question, please press Star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, press Star one one again. Due to time restraints, we ask that you please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up question. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question will come from the line of Tate Sullivan with Maxim Group. Your line is open. Thank you. Good afternoon. You talked at the beginning of your prepared remarks about starting on the back end first, taking a technical grade lithium to battery grade. Is this a process currently in place anywhere in the United States? And if not, where is it currently in place globally, and what kind of model are you duplicating, please? A couple of questions. Hi, Tate. This is Roshan, CEO of Stardust Power. Thanks for your question. The application of processing a technical grade to battery grade is well known and currently does exist in the United States. Arcadium's facility in Bessemer City takes a technical grade from a South American affiliate and processes it to a battery-grade hydroxide. Also, we have seen this model substantially done in China as well, where they can take technical-grade inputs and convert them to battery grade. So it's a process that is well known to us. Two years ago, I counted at least 25 lithium projects under development in the U.S. Are you taking away that step from many of those projects in terms of going from technical grade to battery grade? And is that part of your business model or not? Do most of those projects have an independent business model from that step, getting to battery grade? Sure. For us, the conversion of technical grade is only a short-term answer to bring us to revenue faster while we continue to build out the entirety of the production line. Our business model is based on taking a lithium chloride for trains one and two and processing that to a battery-grade material. We're positioning ourselves to get to revenue a couple of quarters faster, potentially through the conversion of technical grade to battery grade, but not a central part of our business. You mentioned this proven flowsheet before, and you're starting to procure long-lead equipment. Is the equipment from all over the world, or is it mostly from China, or can you comment on that source and effort? Sure. We are not sourcing equipment made in China, and predominantly from American and European vendors. The flowsheet does utilize proven and established off-the-shelf technology. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, Tate. Thank you. One moment for our next question. That will come from the line of Matthew Key with B. Riley Securities. Your line is open. Hey, good afternoon, and thank you for taking my questions. I wanted to just start things off by asking about the lithium markets in general. We're obviously in a challenging market environment for lithium pricing, and we're starting to see growth projects start to get suspended or shelved by many of your peers. How confident are you in the long-term outlook on lithium pricing by the time you start commercial production? And what would you say would be kind of the floor lithium price that you would be comfortable with regarding bringing this project to a final investment decision? Hi, Matt. Thanks for joining us today. So when looking at lithium pricing globally, we are cautiously optimistic, predominantly based on what we see as demand and projected demand, especially in 2027, as being quite substantial to overwhelm existing production. There has been volatility in the market that was spurred on by CATL's lowering of projections for cathodes back in 2022. But we see that maybe as not the clearest depiction of the market. And there are several attempts to de-risk the American market from the Chinese. So based on demand that we see starting in 2027 and moving up even higher, we're cautiously optimistic on lithium prices. In our business model, we would be able to be successful at many different prices, including today's existing market, by utilizing efficiencies and logistics and processing. So our facility would be profitable in an array of market conditions. Got it. That's super helpful, caller. Staying on the macro, obviously, we're in a shift in the political landscape in the U.S. Do you anticipate a Trump presidency to have any major impact on your business strategy at all? What are the pros and cons there as you see it? Sure. So luckily, we see lithium as a largely bipartisan issue. If we look at Trump's previous presidency, he was very anti-China, very pro-American manufacturing, and specifically very pro-manufacturing battery-grade lithium in the United States, evidenced by his support of Lithium Americas. In looking forward to a second Trump presidency, we expect these principles to continue to de-risk supply chains away from China and manufacture more critical materials at home. Got it. That's great commentary. I appreciate that. Yeah, I'll turn it back. Thank you. Thanks, Matt. Thank you. One moment for our next question, and that will come from the line of Greg Mesniaeff with Kingswood Capital Partners. Your line is open. Yes, thank you, and good evening. Roshan, I was wondering if you could give us some additional color on the announcement you made regarding KMX technology, the 90-day exclusivity period, and how is it that brine concentration plays into the competitive advantage that you guys are in the process of creating? Thanks. Well, hi, Greg. Thanks so much for joining us today, and thank you for the question. So brine concentration technology is an important step of our flowsheet at multiple spaces. First, it may be potentially used as a sort of pretreatment, increasing the available universe of acceptable inputs for DLE. So by pretreating it and filtering out a lot of the contaminants, we could potentially use more sources for DLE. Also, because we have a hub-and-spoke model to improve logistical efficiencies, we can concentrate at the asset size to decrease the volume that we have to transport to our central refinery. We could potentially take that one step further and crystallize based on logistic sensitivities. Also, the technology allows for the recycling of water, which can decrease water demands for the DLE process upstream, and also use that same type of water recycling technology on our midstream refinery, decreasing the amount of water we need to take from the municipality and recycling that water, so we see the opportunity to insert the KMX VMD technology at multiple spaces in our flowsheet, and What are the entry barriers to that technology that KMX has for brine concentration? In other words, is this something they have a unique competitive advantage on, or is this one of several techniques and methods being used by various refiners? There are multiple technologies in this space for the concentration and recycling of water, but having said that, we really like KMX's technology. Prior to KMX acquiring it, it had been developed for a number of years with millions of dollars invested in it. It's currently being deployed to clean some of the nastiest waters we've seen in the U.S. in the Permian Basin. And it's also being used in a midstream perspective already. So we really believe the technology works. And also, the absorbent has a good warranty on it of up to five years. So we really like their technology. And do you feel reasonably confident that beyond the 90-day period, you will be in a position to extend that and solidify your exclusive use of it? Thanks. We are confident that we'll be able to reach a definitive agreement. We have a great relationship with KMX technology, also evidenced by a prior memorandum of understanding executed earlier this year. Lithium is an important sector for the use of their technology, and we think Stardust Power is the right partner for them. So we are confident. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. One moment for our next question, and that will come from the line of Pavel Molchanov with Raymond James. Your line is open. Thanks for taking the question. I want to go back to the politics of it all. I agree with you. Lithium is, in many ways, bipartisan, but the tax credits from the IRA might not be quite as bipartisan. So if the Section 45X manufacturing incentives, hypothetically, were to go away, how would you think about that? Would that have any effect on the economics of your kind of projected cash flow? Hi Pavel. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us today and for the question. The IRA and the 45X are an important part of the current ecosystem, and we think there's an opportunity for them to continue to be so. The IRA was created in a manner making it very difficult to remove, especially in the short term. So in the immediate short term, very difficult for any actor to unilaterally remove the IRA and the accompanying 45X. So in the longer term, there might be changes to it. But as we develop our facility, we see that OEMs still have an interest in compliance with this as they source long-term offtake agreements in the short term. So those benefits will still be available to us. Of course, we would like them to continue, and it does provide savings in our financial model. But our model is not dependent on 45X or other government incentives. However, we would happily take them. Also, recently announced that Mr. Elon Musk may be joining the government in some capacity, and that might help for the endorsement of maintaining 45X as well. Appreciate the color on that. If we kind of go back to the lithium value chain, we've seen recently the Rhyolite project or Rhyolite Ridge project moving to construction in Nevada, Thacker Pass now coming up as well. These are not brine projects, however. I know your focus has been on sourcing brine supply. So what's kind of the game plan to get domestic content in your facility in terms of lithium extraction? Yeah, great question. So there are multiple assets, as you mentioned, such as Thacker Pass, which is a clay-type asset, a little bit different than spodumene, obviously very different than brine. But we see a big future in U.S. lithium brine assets, and we see lots of development of U.S. lithium brine assets. For example, Standard Lithium has put in a larger-than-pilot-scale type capacity and has been successful there. IBAT has deployed their technology on a commercial scale. Arizona Lithium, for example, is drilling multiple pad sites in Saskatchewan. And just recently, Vulcan announced that they have started production for lithium hydroxide from using direct lithium extraction technology. So we continue to see expansion in the lithium brine production area, and we think we'll continue to see those. And in that context, are you still planning to invest your own capital in the upstream of the value chain? Yes. We will continue to be forward-looking and proactive in the supply chain, whether it's investing upstream to secure offtake or potentially on a vertically integrated model. As you may remember, part of the thesis of taking the company public was to leverage that public equity to acquire raw material production, and I'm happy to report we have a robust pipeline of M&A opportunity. Got it. Thanks very much. Thank you, Pavel. Thank you. As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star 11. One moment for our next question, and that will come from the line of Matthew O'Keefe with Cantor Fitzgerald. Your line is open. Thanks. Good evening. Just a quick question here on the KMX technology. You mentioned that it's in practice now in cleaning various water systems. I'm just kind of wondering, how has it been used commercially? Has it been used commercially in any lithium extraction yet? Are you going to just go straight to a full 25,000-ton per day or 25,000-ton per year operation, or are you going to do a pilot plant as part of that process? Yeah. Thanks, Matt, for joining us today, and thanks for the question. KMX's technology has been deployed, as I mentioned, in the Permian Basin, cleaning that type of water. It's also being used upstream in Cornish Lithium, even though that project is still being constructed and developed now. For us, we see the first opportunities for deploying their technology on an upstream case, which wouldn't have a 25,000-ton LCE capacity. Instead, it would be smaller in the 1,000- 3,000 LCE capacity at the asset side. We can roll the technology in without having to do a very large standalone facility that has the ability to process all 25,000 tons of LCE annually. So we can use it upstream to introduce it to our flowsheet. Okay. No, that's good. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm showing no further questions in the queue at this time. I would now like to turn the call back over to Roshan Pujari for any closing remarks. Thank you, Cherie. And thank you all for joining Stardust Power Q3 2024 earnings call. As Uday mentioned, this is our first earnings call as a public company, and we're appreciative of all of you for joining and the thoughtful questions. Please join us next quarter for the next call, and please stay tuned for upcoming announcements and developments. Have a great night, everyone. This concludes today's program. Thank you all for participating. You may now disconnect.