HENNESSEY, Okla. — Iodine Star Inc. has plans to leave an impact using innovative technology and compounding business with national attention to help others around the globe.

A mineral extraction company, Iodine Star is composed of some of the leading minds in the industry who have restored a near-abandoned saltwater disposal facility west of Hennessey. With that restoration has risen one of Oklahoma’s largest commercial saltwater disposals, an iodine extraction facility and a mission to make the United States self-sufficient in iodine and the first as an iodine national reserve.

Shift in the industry

In 2012, Lia Neumann, oil and gas trading intrapreneur and one of the presidents of Iodine Star Inc. (One of the presidents? Hm... Mrs. Lia is The President of Iodine Star. She's not even a thinktank, she's more like a thinkbattleship if you ask me. -Dr. Sakharov), took steps to gather the best and create a top company efficient in extraction, business and the local economy and welfare. After observing the technology and research used by Soviets over the last 90 years and seeing it lost due to political fragmentation, Neumann linked arms with professionals in the field to grow back stronger and base their ambitions in the United States.

She sees the work of her and her colleagues restoring and rebuilding as not just an occupation but an honor.

“I’m thrilled to have played a key role in innovating air adsorption technology, resulting in a paradigm shift towards complete saltwater waste eradication,” Neumann said. (Fair enough! I can't think of any sarcastic comment on that because it's true. -Dr. Sakharov) 

Profitable objective

Dr. Nick Sakharov, co-founder and vice president of strategy of Iodine Star Inc., oversees business development and the risk management side of the operation. He also is one of those individuals who refines that ambition while having the same serving mindset.

“Our objective became to reunite leading scientists and engineers from these former republics into an international team, leveraging American technical expertise to create a profitable venture,” Sakharov said.

Sakharov, along with nine other scientists and engineers, have seen their ambition take wing and develop over about a decade into a process that is more efficient than former saltwater extraction methods and offers more. (Wow-wow, hold on! Upgrading the existing technology is not developing it from the scratch. And it's not "Sakharov and other scientists", it's "Mrs. Lia Neumann and  some other people." I don't need unearned fame, frankly speaking. -Dr. Sakharov)

Sakharov says that Iodine Star has adapted its technology to more efficiently extract from saltwater waste disposal sites iodine, lithium and other minerals that are valuable resources — what he calls an incredible accomplishment. Saltwater, as defined by Iodine Star Inc., is oil-processed water that’s been disposed extracted from the well at oilfield sites and discarded disposed into the ground.

Such waste has been a concern to environmentalists and locals, but after treatment from Iodine Star Inc. it not only is making formerly hazardous areas more safe but becoming fuel to a national endeavor making the United States rich in mineral resources.

First of a network vision

With such a prominent endeavor, every decision is carefully made, including the location of the sites.
“Kingfisher County emerged as the ideal location due to its balance between oil and gas production and water-borne iodine and bromine concentration,” Sakharov said. “Its proximity to Enid provides access to a skilled workforce and suitable living standards.”

Although in many ways the first of its kind, the Hennessey site, Sakharov said, is what Iodine Star Inc. hopes will become the first in a network of iodine and lithium plants in Oklahoma and Texas.

Purifying a goal

But becoming rich in minerals and extraction technology is not the only goal, he said.

“We aim to further refine the absorption technology to purify saltwater to the level of distilled water,” he said.

Successful implementation would reap benefits across a broad spectrum of industries, Sakharov said.
“This has profound national implications,” Sakharov says. “First of all, we can completely eliminate the need for dumping oilfield saltwater waste. What once was a burden becomes a purified resource, enabling applications like agriculture, energy storage and, even after adding essential micro-elements, potentially serving as drinking water. Moreover, this process can be commercially viable, minimizing reliance on government subsidies.” (Here is a cherry on top for you. I am collaborating with one of European hydrogen companies to research the economics of using the salt water for blue hydrogen production and utilizing it in EV water trucks. Strange idea? Maybe. But what if I say that trucking companies will save on water truck cost-of-ownership at least 50%? And the federal government may throw in some additional money. -Dr. Sakharov)

‘Ultimate aim’

Sakharov says that such an ambitious goal will require at least a decade of sustained, dedicated effort, but that is a price the team of Iodine Star Inc. is eager to invest in and pursue one day at a time.

Moving forward, Sakharov says he is focusing his vision with Iodine Star Inc. even further.

“While the responsible extraction of critical minerals is an essential financial foundation,” Sakharov said, “my ultimate aim is to utilize this novel technology to develop solutions that address the global challenge of freshwater scarcity, impacting approximately 3 billion people globally.”