Stardust Power Inc. 10-K

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS. Summary of Risk Factors An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section entitled “ Risk Factors ,” alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. Such risks include, but are not limited to, the following: ● Our future performance is difficult to evaluate because we have a limited operating history in the lithium industry. ● Our limited history makes it difficult to evaluate our business and prospects and may increase the risks associated with your investment. ● Our management has identified conditions that raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. ● We are a development stage company, and there is no guarantee that our development will result in the commercial production of lithium from brine sources. ● We face numerous risks related to exploration, construction, and extraction of brine by our suppliers. ● Our quarterly and annual operating and financial results and our revenue are likely to fluctuate significantly in future periods. ● Our long-term success will depend ultimately on our ability to generate revenues, achieve and maintain profitability, and develop positive cash flows from our battery-grade lithium production activities. ● Pipeline of lithium feedstock may prove to be non-viable, which could have material adverse impact on our business and operations. ● Logistics costs based on a hub and spoke refinery model may increase the price to where it is not economically viable. ● Even if we are successful in completing all initial phases and the first commercial production at our Facility and consistently produce battery-grade lithium on a commercial scale, we may not be successful in commencing and expanding commercial operations to support the growth of our business. ● Our ability to manage growth will have an impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. ● Our products may not qualify for use for our intended customers. ● We might not be able to sell our products as intended. ● Delays and other obstacles may prevent the successful completion of our Facility. ● We may not be able to develop, maintain and grow strategic relationships, identify new strategic relationship opportunities or form strategic relationships, in the future. ● Lithium can be highly combustible, and if we have incidents, it could adversely impact us. ● The lithium brine industry includes well capitalized companies, and we may not have sufficient resources to compete against them. 34 ● Low-cost producers could disrupt the market and be able to provide products cheaper than the Company. ● We may be unable to qualify for existing federal and state level grants and incentives and the grants and incentives may not be released to us as quickly or efficiently as we anticipate or at all. ● The development of non-lithium battery technologies could adversely affect us. ● Lithium prices are subject to unpredictable fluctuations. ● The development of our lithium refinery is highly dependent upon the currently projected demand for and uses of lithium-based end products. ● Our future growth and success are dependent upon consumers’ demand for electric vehicles in an automotive industry that is generally competitive, cyclical and volatile. ● We may be unable to successfully negotiate final, binding terms related to our current non-binding memoranda of understanding and letters of intent for supply and offtake agreements, which could harm our commercial prospects. ● An escalation of the current war in Ukraine, generalized conflict in Europe and the Middle East, or the emergence of conflict elsewhere, may adversely affect our business. ● Potential tariffs or a global trade war could increase the cost of products we rely upon, which could adversely impact the competitiveness of our business and our financial results. ● Climate change, legislation, regulation and policies may result in increased operating costs and otherwise affect our business, our industry and the global economy. ● We identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in prior year. If we experience additional material weaknesses or other deficiencies in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial results, which could result in loss of investor confidence and adversely impact our stock price. Risks Related to Our Business and Industry Our future performance is difficult to evaluate because we have a limited operating history in the lithium industry. We have had a limited operating history in the lithium industry, and we have not realized any revenues to date from the sale of lithium, and our operating cash flow needs have been financed through issuance of SAFE notes, debt and equity securities, and not through cash flows derived from our operations. As a result, we have little historical financial and operating information from our lithium business to help you evaluate our performance. Our limited history makes it difficult to evaluate our business and prospects and may increase the risks associated with your investment. We incorporated on March 16, 2023, and have yet to construct our Facility and commence production. As a result, we have a limited operating history upon which to evaluate our business and future prospects, which subjects us to a number of risks and uncertainties, including our ability to plan for and predict future growth. Since our founding, and acquisition of land for the establishment of our Facility, we have made significant progress towards site due diligence, engineering and techno-economic analysis for assessing suitability of the land and location. The refinery designs, brine extraction and transportation process to our Facility, process configurations, and control system of the Facility are representative of an industrial-scale battery-grade lithium production facility. We have also undertaken and continue to undertake various environmental studies by industry experts. As we continue to develop our production Facility, we expect our operating losses and negative operating cash flows to grow until first commercial production and sales. We may encounter risks and difficulties experienced by growing companies in rapidly developing and changing industries, including challenges related to achieving market acceptance of our products, competing against companies with greater financial and technical resources, competing against entrenched incumbent competitors that have long-standing relationships with our prospective customers in the battery-grade lithium market, recruiting and retaining qualified employees, and making use of our limited resources. We cannot ensure that we will be successful in addressing these and other challenges that we may face in the future, and our business may be adversely affected if we do not manage these risks appropriately. As a result, we may not attain sufficient revenue to achieve or maintain positive cash flow from operations or profitability in any given period, or at all. Our management has identified conditions that raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our management has concluded that there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Since inception, we have incurred significant operating losses, have an accumulated deficit of approximately $52.62 million as of December 31, 2024, and negative operating cash flow of approximately $9.72 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. Our management expects that operating losses and negative cash flows may continue to increase from the December 31, 2024, levels, particularly because we are not generating any revenue as yet and owing to additional costs towards capital expenditure and expenses related to the development of site preparation, engineering, feasibility studies, and investment in upstream companies and salaries of the senior team and professional expenses. These conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The ability of the Company to continue as a going concern is dependent upon management’s plan to raise additional capital from issuance of equity or receive additional borrowings to fund the Company’s operating and investing activities. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in our plans described elsewhere in this annual report or in attracting future debt, equity financings or strategic and collaborative ventures with third parties on acceptable terms, or if at all. If we are unable to raise adequate capital at favorable terms, the business, operations and financial results, and hence stock price of securities of the Company in the public markets may be adversely impacted, which could have a material adverse impact on your investment. 35 We are a development stage company, and there is no guarantee that our development will result in the commercial production of lithium from brine sources. As a development stage company, we have yet to start the purification of lithium brine to produce battery-grade lithium and are not likely to generate revenue in our initial years of operations. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that we will ever realize any profits. Any profitability in the future from our business will be dependent upon an economic method of extracting the required brine by our partners, whether directly or as byproducts of the oil and gas industry, and from further exploration and development of other economic sources of brine. Further, we cannot assure you that any exploration and extraction programs conducted by our partners will result in profitable commercially viable extraction, purification and production operations. The exploration, extraction and purification of lithium brine, whether obtained from deposits or as byproducts of the oil and gas industry, involves a high degree of financial risk over a significant period of time, which may or may not be reduced or eliminated through a combination of careful evaluation, experience, and skilled management. While the discovery of additional lithium brine deposits may result in increasing and diversifying supply sources, there can be no assurances that costs associated with extraction and subsequent transportation to the Facility would be economical and efficient enough for profitable commercial production. Further, significant expenses may be required by our partners to construct processing facilities and to establish brine reserves. We do not know with certainty that economically recoverable lithium exists on properties of our partners from who we seek to obtain brine. In addition, the quantity of any brine reserves may vary depending on input prices. Any material change in the quantity or grade of brine may affect the economic viability of our properties. Subsequent to the entering into of commercial product and offtake agreements to sell battery-grade lithium, we may be required to import the input raw materials in order to meet demand. In that event, import expenses, levies by exporting governments, regulatory approvals, shipping and logistics arrangements and costs, could potentially make the production of battery-grade lithium at our facilities economically unviable. This could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations and cash flows. We face numerous risks related to exploration, construction, and extraction of brine by our suppliers. Our level of profitability, if any, in future years will depend to a great degree on lithium prices and whether we can purchase brine at a price that is economically feasible for us to produce battery-grade lithium. Exploration and development of lithium resources are highly speculative in nature, and it is impossible to ensure that any of our suppliers will establish reserves. Whether it will be economically feasible for our suppliers to extract lithium depends on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) particular attributes of the brine assets, such as chemical composition of lithium, presence of contaminants, temperature of the brine, physical and chemical conditions of the brine and extraction technology and proximity to infrastructure, among other factors; (ii) lithium prices; (iii) extraction, processing and, purification; (iv) logistics and transportation costs; (v) willingness of lenders and investors to provide capital, including project financing; (vi) labor costs and possible labor strikes; (vii) non-issuance or delays in the issuance of permits; (viii) electric vehicle supply and demand; and (ix) governmental regulations, including, without limitation, regulations relating to prices, taxes, royalties, land tenure, land use, importing and exporting materials, grants, foreign exchange, environmental, health and safety, employment, transportation, and reclamation and closure obligations. We are also subject to the risks normally encountered in the lithium industry, that may impact our suppliers which include, without limitation: ● the discovery of unusual or unexpected geological formations; ● accidental fires, floods, earthquakes, severe weather, seismic activity, or other natural disasters; ● unplanned power outages and water shortages; ● construction delays and higher than expected capital costs due to, among other things, supply chain disruptions, trade disputes and tariffs, higher transportation costs and inflation; ● the ability to obtain suitable or adequate machinery, equipment, or labor; ● shortages in materials or equipment and energy and electrical power supply interruptions or rationing; ● environmental, health and safety regulations; and ● other risks involved in the conduct of lithium exploration and operations. 36 The nature of these risks is such that liabilities could exceed any applicable insurance policy limits or could be excluded from coverage. There are also risks against which we cannot insure or against which we may elect not to insure. The potential costs, which could be associated with any liabilities not covered by insurance or in excess of insurance coverage, or compliance with applicable laws and regulations may cause substantial delays and require significant capital outlays, adversely affecting our future earnings, competitive position, and potentially our financial viability. Our quarterly and annual operating and financial results and our revenue are likely to fluctuate significantly in future periods. Our quarterly and annual operating and financial results are difficult to predict and may fluctuate significantly from period to period. Our revenues, net income and results of operations may fluctuate as a result of a variety of factors that are outside our control including, but not limited to, lack of sufficient working capital, equipment malfunction and breakdowns, inability to timely find spare machines or parts to fix the broken equipment, regulatory or licensing delays and severe weather phenomena. Our long-term success will depend ultimately on our ability to generate revenues, achieve and maintain profitability, and develop positive cash flows from our battery-grade lithium production activities. Our ability to acquire additional lithium brine from suppliers depends on our ability to generate revenues, achieve and maintain profitability, and generate positive cash flow from our operations. The economic viability of the Facility has many risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to: ● significant, prolonged decrease in the market price of lithium; ● significantly higher than expected construction, extraction or refining costs; ● significantly lower than expected lithium extraction and reduced supply of lithium brine; ● significant delays, reductions, or stoppages in lithium extraction activities; ● construction delays, procurement issues and workforce sourcing where our Facility is being set up; ● significant shortages of adequate and skilled labor or a significant increase in labor costs; ● difficulty in obtaining relevant permits or delays caused in obtaining such relevant permits; ● more stringent regulatory or environmental, health or safety laws and regulations; ● significant difficulty in marketing or selling battery-grade lithium; ● negative community and political activism that may have an impact on the laws and regulations surrounding the industry in which we operate; ● availability of credits, incentives and federal or state funding for refining and sale of battery-grade lithium and electric vehicles; and ● general economic and political conditions, such as recessions, interest rates, inflation and acts of war or terrorism. It is common for a new lithium refining operation to experience unexpected costs, problems, and delays during construction, commissioning and start-up. Most similar projects suffer delays during these periods due to numerous factors, including the factors listed above. Any of these factors could result in changes to capital and operating expenditures, economic returns or cash flow estimates of the project or have other negative impacts on our financial position. There is no assurance that our Facility will commence commercial production on schedule, or at all, or will result in profitable, viable operations. If we are unable to develop our Facility into a commercial operating facility, our business and financial condition will be materially adversely affected. Moreover, even if a feasibility study supports a commercially viable project, there are many additional factors that could impact the project’s development, including terms and availability of financing, cost overruns, litigation or administrative appeals concerning the project, delays in development, and any permitting changes, among other factors, and factors beyond our control such as adverse weather conditions. 37 Our future lithium refining and production activities may change as a result of any one or more of these risks and uncertainties. We cannot assure you that any of our activities will result in achieving and maintaining profitability and developing positive cash flows. Pipeline of lithium feedstock may prove to be non-viable, which could have material adverse impact on our business and operations. Through our strategic memorandums of understanding via non-binding contractual arrangements with leading global players such as Usha Resources for the Jackpot Lake Lithium Brine Project, QXR, IGX and Zelandez, we depend on them for supply and production of lithium brine, and if for some reason the memorandums of understanding do not culminate into binding agreements or do not yield desired economic results, it could adversely impact our business, operations and financial condition. For example, the results of the Phase I of Liberty Lithium project with QXR may prove to be economically unviable, or not an economically viable source of feedstock for the Company. Further, our arrangement with Zelandez may also not create adequate feedstock. Sufficient supply and production of lithium brine may not be available at the onset of the production at the Facility. Additionally, upstream risks may prevent us from organizing enough feedstock supply to produce consistent lithium products, and the competitive landscape for lithium supply could become a detriment to the Company’s efforts. Changes in commodity prices may also limit upstream exploration and production. We cannot assure you that we will not be faced with adverse impacts should the execution of our strategy be impacted. Logistics costs based on a hub and spoke refinery model may increase the price to where it is not economically viable. Our business model is designed to have a central refinery where inputs are transported to the central location. This approach has a layer of transportation costs associated with it. While our management believes these costs can be limited through concentration and or crystallization, we cannot assure you that any adverse changes in transportation costs, transportation and logistics levies, changed in concentration and or crystallization process leading to increased costs, among others, would not increase costs substantially, reduce operating margins, or make our project unviable. Even if we are successful in completing all initial phases and the first commercial production at our Facility and consistently produce battery-grade lithium on a commercial scale, we may not be successful in commencing and expanding commercial operations to support the growth of our business. Our ability to achieve significant future revenue will depend in large part upon our ability to attract customers and enter into contracts on favorable terms. We expect that many of our customers will be large companies with extensive experience operating in the lithium markets. We lack significant commercial operating experience and may face difficulties in developing marketing expertise in these fields. Our business model relies upon our ability to successfully implement our first commercial production and commence and expand commercial operations. Furthermore, we also intend to successfully negotiate, structure and fulfill long-term supply agreements for lithium brine with suppliers. Agreements with potential customers may initially only provide for the purchase of limited quantities from us. Our ability to increase our sales will depend in large part upon our ability to expand these existing customer relationships into long-term supply agreements. Establishing, maintaining and expanding relationships with customers in general can require substantial investment without any assurance from customers that they will place significant orders. In addition, many of our potential customers may be more experienced in these matters than we are, and we may fail to successfully negotiate these agreements in a timely manner or on favorable terms which, in turn, may force us to slow our production, dedicate additional resources to increasing our storage capacity and/or dedicate resources to sales in spot markets. Furthermore, should we become more dependent on spot market sales, our profitability will become increasingly vulnerable to short-term fluctuations in the price and demand for battery-grade lithium and competing substitutes. 38 Our ability to manage growth will have an impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Future growth may place strains on our financial, technical, operational, and administrative resources and cause us to rely more on project partners and independent contractors, thus, potentially adversely affecting our financial position and results of operations. Our ability to grow will depend on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: ● our ability to develop existing prospects; ● our ability to identify suppliers and enter into long-term supply agreements with suppliers; ● our ability to maintain or enter into new relationships with project partners and independent contractors; ● our ability to continue to retain and attract skilled personnel; ● our access to capital; ● the market price for lithium products; and ● our ability to enter into agreements for the sale of lithium products. Our products may not qualify for use for our intended customers. Our battery-grade lithium products may not be suitable for our intended customers’ use for lithium-ion batteries. These batteries have strict requirements for the materials used in their manufacture as impurities can lead to poor charging performance including reduced vehicle range of operation, more frequent need to charge, problems with batteries starting at colder temperature and, in some extreme cases, to batteries catching on fire. A major issue with the current lithium conversion practice in the industry is reliable operation in producing high-quality lithium products. Although through our business arrangements and our process, we expect to produce battery-grade lithium products that meet purity requirements, we cannot assure you that we will be able to enter into business arrangements as we intend, that our processes will meet the stringent quality testing norms of our intended customers, and we will not be able to develop the market to sell our products, which will have an adverse impact on our revenue, operations and financial condition. We might not be able to sell our products as intended. As a result of evolving market dynamics, we may not be able to secure long-term buyers for our products for a variety of reasons, including: qualification, competitive pricing, logistical costs, future government policies and incentives, changes in demand from EV adoption, changes in demand due to changes in chemistry of batteries, or the synthesizing of battery metals, emergence of new engineering technologies or processes that could render existing processes obsolete, and alternatives to battery-grade lithium for the EV industry, among others. We cannot assure you that such events in the future may not occur, or how adversely they will impact our business, operations and financial position. Delays and other obstacles may prevent the successful completion of our Facility. Delays may stop or temporarily stop the development of our Facility. These delays could include but are not limited to, permitting delays and inability to obtain permits, construction delays, procurement issues, workforce sourcing, community activism, and political opposition. A significant delay in completion of our Facility could adversely affect our ability to finish development with changes in both capital expenditure and operating expenditure. 39 We depend on our ability to successfully access the capital and financial markets. Any inability to access the capital or financial markets may limit our ability to meet our liquidity needs and long-term commitments, fund our ongoing operations, execute our business plan or pursue investments that we may rely on for future growth. Until commercial production is achieved from our planned projects, we will continue to incur operating and investing net cash outflows associated with including, but not limited to, undertaking exploration, extraction and production activities, and the development of our planned projects. As a result, we rely on access to various sources of funding including debt, private equity, the public and private debt and equity capital markets, as well as grants, as a source of funding for our capital and operating requirements. We require additional capital to meet our liquidity needs related to expenses for our various corporate activities, including the costs related to our status as a publicly traded company, funding for our ongoing operations, explore and define lithium brine extraction, and establish any future lithium operations. We cannot assure you that such additional funding will be available to us on satisfactory terms, or at all. To finance our future ongoing operations, and future capital needs, we may require additional funds through the issuance of additional equity or debt securities. Depending on the type and terms of any financing we pursue, stockholders’ rights and the value of their investment in our Common Stock could be reduced. Any additional equity financing will dilute our existing shareholdings. If the issuance of new securities results in diminished rights to holders of our Common Stock, the market price of our Common Stock could be negatively impacted. New or additional debt financing, if available, may involve restrictions on financing and operating activities. In addition, if we issue secured debt securities, the holders of the debt would have a claim to our assets that would be prior to the rights of stockholders until the debt is paid. Interest on such debt securities would increase costs and would subject us to increased debt service obligations, could result in operating and financing covenants that would restrict our operations and hence negatively impact operating results. If we are unable to obtain additional financing, as needed, at competitive terms, our ability to fund our current operations and implement our business plan and strategy will be adversely affected. These circumstances may require us to reduce the scope of our operations and scale back our exploration, extraction, refining and production plans. There is no guarantee that we will be able to secure any additional funding or be able to secure funding to provide us with sufficient funds to meet our objectives, which may adversely affect our business and financial position. There can be no assurance that financing will be available in a timely manner or in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, or at all. Any failure to raise needed funds on terms favorable to us, or at all, could severely restrict our liquidity as well as have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, and financial performance. We may not be able to develop, maintain and grow strategic relationships, identify new strategic relationship opportunities, or form strategic relationships, in the future. We expect that our ability to establish, maintain, and manage strategic relationships, such as our non-binding agreements with suppliers, offtakers, technology partners and other related service/ancillary providers, will be important to the success of our business. We cannot guarantee that the companies with which we have developed or will develop strategic relationships will continue to devote the resources necessary to promote mutually beneficial business relationships in order to grow our business. If, for some reason, our partners choose to terminate our contracts with them, refuse to enter into contracts with us on commercially reasonable terms, or are unable to deliver on agreed terms, the refining of lithium brine, the construction of our Facility, the ability to produce market-acceptable battery-grade lithium, and our business operations would be materially adversely impacted. Further, some of our current arrangements are not exclusive, and some of our strategic partners may work with our competitors in the future. If we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining our relationships with key strategic partners, our overall growth could be impaired, and our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results could be adversely affected. 40 Lithium can be highly combustible, and if we have incidences, it could adversely impact us. Lithium in concentrated form could be highly combustible, if not produced, stored and transported using the appropriate protocols. It may cause violent combustion or explosion, on contact with heat or water. Pure lithium when finely dispersed, may ignite spontaneously on contact with air, under certain circumstances. Upon exposure to heat, toxic fumes are formed, and then it may decompose. The product can react violently with strong oxidants, acids and many other compounds (e.g. hydrocarbons, halogens, halons, concrete, sand and asbestos). This creates fire and explosion hazard. Lithium could also react with water, which may produce highly flammable hydrogen gas and corrosive fumes of lithium hydroxide. Transportation of lithium can be dangerous if not conducted using appropriate safety measures. The end products, such as lithium-ion battery, which is manufactured with our product, may be unstable and combustible. While we intend to follow protocol and safety measures, we cannot assure you that the lithium we produce will not combust. If it does, it could severely impact our operations, business, and revenue as well as increase our insurance claims and insurance premium, thereby impacting our profitability. The lithium brine industry includes well capitalized companies, and we may not have sufficient resources to compete against them. The DLE industry and lithium processing sector include established competitors possessing substantial capitalization and extensive resources. Accordingly, we may encounter challenges competing against these well-capitalized incumbents. These industry participants often benefit from significant financial reserves operational and distribution scale, which could potentially place us at a competitive disadvantage. Low-cost producers could disrupt the market and be able to provide products cheaper than the Company. Producers, especially in foreign jurisdictions including but not limited to China, Argentina, Chile, India and Australia, could use processes that might produce lower-cost lithium, which could impact the market in general, and adversely impact the sales of the Company, in particular. Other producers could forgo DLE technologies and use ponds or other mechanisms to extract lithium, which could have a lower cost basis. Further, other producers could operate in markets which may have less rigorous environmental, health, safety, and other regulatory compliance standards compared to our market This could lead those producers to reduce costs substantially, that could make our pricing less competitive or even unviable. If such a scenario were to occur, it could have a material adverse impact on our revenue, profitability and cash flow. We may be unable to qualify for existing federal and state level grants and incentives and the grants and incentives may not be released to us as quickly or efficiently as we anticipate or at all. There are substantial grants, financing, and other incentives provided by various government organizations designed to facilitate American manufacturing of battery-grade lithium products, such as the those covered under the incentives through the IRA, IR Act and BIL under the aegis of the Department of Energy LPO Loan Programs Office Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, Department of Defense, Defense Production Act, Department of Energy Grant, Department of Defense Office of Strategic Capital, as well as the Investment Tax Credit and the 21st Century Quality Jobs Program by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, among others. While we expect to receive grants from the State of Oklahoma, we cannot assure you that such grants will be received in a timely manner in meaningful amounts, or at all, and we may not be eligible or qualify for federal grants. These and other future governmental incentives may be removed or no longer provided, due to changes in governmental policies or political attitudes towards such incentives which may change and limit the distribution of any such incentives. For example, the Company has been advised with respect to its grant application under the Defense Production Act that such application would be held, but currently there is no such funding available under the program. Additionally, in January 2025, President Trump issued an executive order directing an immediate pause on the disbursement of funds appropriated through the BIL/Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the IRA and the IR Act. This pause on disbursements is subject to ongoing legal challenges. Furthermore, the IR Act and the IRA may be subject to attempts to amend or repeal, including through Congressional budget reconciliation. The full impact of these actions and next steps remains uncertain at this time. We cannot assure you that if the basis of certain incentives changes and the grants become non-available or are delayed, the same will not affect our ability to start our operations in a timely and cost-effective manner, leading to delays in commissioning, and could adversely impact our financing options, and hence adversely impact our ability to generate revenue and profitability. We may in the future use hedging arrangements to mitigate certain risks, but the use of such derivative instruments could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations. In the future, we may use interest rate swaps to manage interest rate risk, especially on long-term offtake contracts with customers. In addition, we may use forward sales and other types of hedging contracts, including foreign currency hedges if we do expand into other countries. If we elect to enter into these types of hedging arrangements, our related assets could recognize financial losses on these arrangements as a result of volatility in the market values of the underlying asset or if a counterparty fails to perform under a contract. If actively quoted market prices and pricing information from external sources are not available, the valuation of these contracts would involve judgment or the use of estimates. As a result, changes in the underlying assumptions or use of alternative valuation methods could affect the reported fair value of these contracts. If the values of these financial contracts change in a manner that we do not anticipate, or if a counterparty fails to perform under a contract, it could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. 41 We may acquire or invest in additional companies, which may divert our management’s attention, result in additional dilution to our stockholders, and consume resources that are necessary to sustain our business. Our business strategy may include in part acquiring other complementary technologies or businesses, or that provide us with downstream or upstream integration, or making minority investments in such businesses. We may also enter relationships with other businesses to expand our operations and to create service networks to support our production and delivery of battery-grade lithium. An acquisition, investment, or business relationship may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures, including ones that we may pursue but do not conclude in an acquisition, investment, or business relationship. We may encounter difficulties assimilating or integrating the businesses, technologies, products, services, personnel, or operations of the acquired companies particularly if the key personnel of the acquired companies choose not to work for us. Acquisitions may also disrupt our business, divert our resources, and require significant management attention that would otherwise be available for the development of our business. Moreover, the anticipated benefits of any acquisition, investment, or business relationship may not be realized or we may be exposed to unknown liabilities. Negotiating these transactions can be time consuming, difficult, and expensive. We may incur significant business development expenses, and management’s attention may be diverted from the operation of our existing business, during the discussion and negotiation period. Further, our ability to close these transactions may often be subject to approvals that are beyond our control. Consequently, these transactions, even if undertaken and announced, may not close. Even if we do successfully complete acquisitions or investments, we may not ultimately strengthen our competitive position or achieve our goals, and any acquisitions we complete could be viewed negatively by our customers, securities analysts, and investors. To the extent we make only a minority equity interest in a company, we may lack affirmative control rights, which may diminish our ability to influence the company’s affairs in a manner intended to enhance the value of our investment in the company. We could incur losses if the majority stakeholders or the management of the company takes risks or otherwise acts in a manner that does not serve our interests. In addition, we could be subject to reputational harm if the company in which the investment is made makes business, financial or management decisions with which we do not agree. These circumstances could also lead to disputes and litigation with management or employees of the company in which the investment is made, or its other stockholders. We are dependent upon key management employees. The responsibility of overseeing the day-to-day operations and the strategic management of our business depends substantially on our senior management and key personnel. Loss of any such personnel may have an adverse effect on our performance. The success of our operations will depend upon numerous factors, many of which, in part, are beyond our control, including our ability to attract and retain additional key personnel in sales, marketing, engineering and technical support, and finance. Certain areas in which we operate are highly competitive and competition for qualified personnel is significant. We may be unable to hire suitable field personnel for our engineering and technical team or there may be periods of time where a particular position remains vacant while a suitable replacement is identified and appointed. We may not be successful in attracting and retaining the personnel required to grow and operate our business profitably. 42 Our success as a company producing battery-grade lithium and related products depends to a great extent on the capabilities of our partners for lithium extraction from brine and our ability to secure capital for the implementation of brine processing plants. Our success as a producer of lithium and related products is dependent on our ability to develop and implement more efficient production capabilities based on mineral rich brine and implementation of DLE technologies. While having the potential to significantly increase the supply of lithium from brine projects, the technology for DLE is an emerging technology. A number of DLE technologies are emerging and being tested at scale, with only a handful of projects already in commercial construction. However, there remain challenges around scalability and water consumption/brine reinjection. We will need to continue to invest heavily to scale our manufacturing to ultimately produce sufficient amounts of battery-grade lithium. However, we cannot assure you that our future product research and development projects, if any, and financing efforts will be successful or be completed within the anticipated time frame or budget. There is no guarantee we will achieve anticipated sales targets or if we will be profitable. In addition, we cannot assure you that our existing or potential competitors will not develop technologies which are similar or superior to our technologies, or that result in products that are more competitively priced. As it is often difficult to project the time frame for developing new technologies and the duration of the market window for these technologies, there is a substantial risk that we may have to abandon a potential technology that is no longer commercially viable, even after we have invested significant resources in the development of such technology and our facilities. If we fail in our technology development or product launching efforts, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. The development of non-lithium battery technologies could adversely affect us. The development and adoption of new battery technologies that rely on inputs other than lithium compounds could significantly impact our prospects and future revenues. Current and next generation high energy density batteries for use in electric vehicles rely on lithium compounds as a critical input. Alternative materials and technologies are being researched with the goal of making batteries lighter, more efficient, faster charging and less expensive, and some of these may be less reliant on lithium compounds. We cannot predict which new technologies may ultimately prove to be commercially viable or on what time horizon. Commercialized battery technologies that use no, or significantly less, lithium could have a material adverse impact on our prospects and future revenues. Lithium prices are subject to unpredictable fluctuations. We expect to derive revenues, if any, from the production and sale of battery-grade lithium. The prices of lithium may fluctuate widely and are affected by numerous factors beyond our control, including international, economic, and political trends, expectations of inflation, currency exchange fluctuations, interest rates, global or regional consumptive patterns, speculative activities, increased production due to new extraction developments and improved extraction and production methods and technological changes in the markets for the end products. The world’s largest suppliers of lithium are Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A (NYSE: SQM), Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co., Ltd. and Tianqi Group. Any attempt to suppress the price of lithium materials by such suppliers, or an increase in production by any supplier in excess of any increased demand, would have negative consequences on Stardust Power. The price of lithium materials may also be reduced by the discovery of new lithium deposits, which could not only increase the overall supply of lithium (causing downward pressure on its price) but could also draw new firms into the lithium refinery industry which would compete with Stardust Power. The effect of these factors on the prices of lithium and lithium byproducts, and therefore the economic viability of any of our exploration properties, cannot accurately be predicted. Further, if prices were to decline significantly, it could have significant adverse effects on our ability to source raw material, and hence impact our production volumes. Additionally, this could also have adverse impact, both on our selling price for battery-grade lithium, as well as volumes sold, and could adversely impact our revenue, gross margins and profitability. 43 The development of our lithium refinery is highly dependent upon the currently projected demand for and uses of lithium-based end products. The development of our lithium refinery is highly dependent upon the currently projected demand for and uses of lithium-based end products, which include lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and other large format batteries that currently have limited market share and whose projected adoption rates are not assured. To the extent that such markets do not develop in the manner contemplated by the Company, then the long-term growth in the market for lithium products will be adversely affected, which would inhibit the potential for development of the lithium refinery, its potential commercial viability and would otherwise have a negative effect on the business and financial condition of the Company. In addition, as a commodity, lithium market demand is subject to the substitution effect in which end-users adopt an alternate commodity as a response to supply constraints or increases in market pricing. To the extent that these factors arise in the market for lithium, it could have a negative impact on overall prospects for growth of the lithium market and pricing, which in turn could have a negative effect on the Company and its projects. Our future growth and success are dependent upon consumers’ demand for electric vehicles in an automotive industry that is generally competitive, cyclical and volatile. Though we continue to see increased interest and adoption of electric vehicles, if the market for electric vehicles in general does not develop as we expect, or develops more slowly than we expect, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be harmed. For example, in January 2025, President Trump announced his intention to remove any favorable regulatory conditions for electric vehicles. As a result, the future of any governmental incentives intended to help support the development of the electric vehicle market is uncertain at this time. In addition, electric vehicles still constitute a small percentage of overall vehicle sales. As a result, the market for lithium products could be negatively affected by numerous factors, such as: ● perceptions about electric vehicle features, quality, safety, performance, sustainability and cost; ● perceptions about the limited range over which electric vehicles may be driven on a single battery charge, and access to charging facilities; ● competition, including from other types of alternative fuel vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and high fuel-economy internal combustion engine vehicles; ● volatility in the cost of oil, gasoline and energy; ● government regulations and economic incentives and conditions; and ● concerns about our future viability. Sales of vehicles in the automotive industry tend to be cyclical in many markets, which may expose us to further volatility. We also cannot predict the duration or direction of current global trends or their sustained impact on consumer demand. Ultimately, we continue to monitor macroeconomic conditions to remain flexible and to optimize and evolve our business as appropriate and attempt to accurately project demand and infrastructure requirements globally and deploy our production, workforce and other resources accordingly. If we experience unfavorable global market conditions, or if we cannot or do not maintain operations at a scope that is commensurate with such conditions or are later required to or choose to suspend such operations again, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely impacted. We may be unable to successfully negotiate final, binding terms related to our current non-binding memoranda of understanding and letters of intent for supply and offtake agreements, which could harm our commercial prospects. From time-to-time, we agree to preliminary terms regarding offtake and supply agreements. We may be unable to negotiate final terms with these or other companies in a timely manner, or at all, and there is no guarantee that the terms of any final agreement will be the same or similar to those currently contemplated. Final terms may include less favorable pricing structures or volume commitments, more expensive delivery or purity requirements, reduced contract durations and other adverse changes. Delays in negotiating final contracts could slow our initial commercialization, and failure to agree to definitive terms for sales of sufficient volumes of lithium could prevent us from growing our business. To the extent that terms in our initial supply and distribution contracts may influence negotiations regarding future contracts, the failure to negotiate favorable final terms related to our current preliminary agreements could have an especially negative impact on our growth and profitability. Further, our prospective counterparties may cancel or delay entering into definitive agreements for a variety of reasons, some of which may be outside of our control. Additionally, we have not demonstrated that we can meet the production levels contemplated in our current non-binding supply agreements. If the construction and readiness of the Facility proceeds more slowly than we expect, or if we encounter difficulties in successfully completing the construction of the Facility, potential customers, including those with whom we have current letters of intent, may be less willing to negotiate definitive supply agreements, or demand terms less favorable to us, and our performance may suffer. If we are unable to enter into such definitive agreements on a timely basis, our growth, revenue and results of operations may be negatively impacted. 44 We entered into a non-binding letter agreement with Sumitomo contemplating a long-term commercial offtake agreement described under the section titled “ Business-Customers”. The parties are engaged in negotiations regarding key commercial points of the potential offtake agreement. The letter agreement provides a framework for a potential binding agreement between the Company and Sumitomo; however, many key terms have not been agreed to in principle. It is possible that we will not be able to agree to enter into a definitive agreement consistent with the above-described letter agreement, or at all. Our future business prospects could be adversely affected if we are unable to enter into definitive agreements relating to contemplated joint ventures with Usha Resources and IGX and, if such agreements are in fact completed, there can be no assurance that such joint ventures will ultimately be successful. We entered into non-binding letters of intent with each of Usha Resources and IGX to acquire majority interests in projects owned by those parties described under the sections titled “ Business-Usha Resources Letter of Intent ” and “ Business - IGX Letter of Intent ”. The parties are engaged in negotiations regarding key commercial points of the ventures. The letters of intent provide frameworks for the potential investments; however, many of the key terms of the ventures, including economic and investment terms, have not been agreed to in principle. It is possible that the parties will not be able to agree to enter into definitive agreements consistent with the letters of intent, or at all. Even if we are able to reach final terms and enter into binding documentation, we do not know how much financing these projects will require, or whether such financing will be available on acceptable terms, or at all. There can be no assurance that the ventures will be able to complete the development of their respective projects and be commercialized. These factors could harm our business, results of operations and financial results. Changes in technology or other developments could adversely affect demand for lithium compounds or result in preferences for substitute products. Lithium and its derivatives are preferred raw materials for certain industrial applications, such as rechargeable batteries. For example, current and future high energy density batteries for use in electric vehicles rely on lithium compounds as a critical input. The pace of advancements in current battery technologies, development and adoption of new battery technologies that rely on inputs other than lithium compounds, or a delay in the development and adoption of future high nickel battery technologies that utilize lithium could significantly impact our prospects and future revenues. Many materials and technologies are being researched and developed with the goal of making batteries lighter, more efficient, faster charging, and less expensive, some of which could be less reliant on lithium or other lithium compounds. Some of these technologies, such as commercialized battery technologies that use no, or significantly less, lithium compounds, could be successful and could adversely affect demand for lithium batteries in personal electronics, electric and hybrid vehicles, and other applications. We cannot predict which new technologies may ultimately prove to be commercially viable and on what time horizon. In addition, alternatives to industrial applications dependent on lithium compounds may become more economically attractive as global commodity prices shift. Any of these events could adversely affect demand for and market prices of lithium, thereby resulting in a material adverse impact on the economic feasibility of extracting any mineralization we discover and reducing or eliminating any reserves we identify. 45 Our business and operations may be significantly disrupted upon the occurrence of a catastrophic event, information technology system failures or cyberattack. Our business is dependent on proprietary technologies, processes and information that we have acquired, and expected to acquire, from our partners, much of which is, or will be, stored on our computer systems. We may in the future enter into agreements with third parties for hardware, software, telecommunications and other IT services in connection with our operations. Our operations depend, in part, on how well we and our vendors protect networks, equipment, IT systems and software against damage from a number of threats, including, but not limited to, cable cuts, damage to physical plants, natural disasters, intentional damage and destruction, fire, power loss, hacking, computer viruses, vandalism, theft, malware, ransomware and phishing or other cyberattacks. Any of these and other events could result in IT system failures, delays, loss of data or information, liability to our partners or other third parties, a material disruption of our business or increases in capital expenses. Our operations also depend on the timely maintenance, upgrade and replacement of networks, equipment and IT systems and software, as well as preemptive expenses to mitigate the risks of vulnerabilities or failures. Furthermore, the importance of such IT systems and networks and systems may increase if our employees work remotely, which may introduce more risks to our information technology systems and networks as such employees use network connections, computers, or devices that are outside our premises or networks. Additionally, if one of our service providers were to fail and we were unable to find a suitable replacement in a timely manner, we may be unable to properly administer our outsourced functions. If we cannot continue to retain these services provided by our vendors on acceptable terms, our access to necessary IT systems or services could be interrupted. Any security breach, interruption or failure of our IT systems, or those of our third party vendors, could impair our ability to operate our business, reduce our quality of services, increase costs, prompt litigation and other consumer claims, subject us to government enforcement actions (including investigations, fines, penalties, audits, or inspections), and damage our reputation, any of which could substantially harm our business, financial condition or the results of our operations. As cyber threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend significant additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any information security vulnerabilities. While we have implemented security resources to protect our data security and IT systems, such measures may not prevent such events, especially because the cyberattack techniques used change frequently and are often not recognized until launched, and because the full scope of a cyberattack may not be realized until an investigation has been completed, and cyberattacks can originate from a wide variety of sources and through a wide variety of methods. In addition, certain measures that could increase the security of our IT system take significant time and resources to deploy broadly, and such measures may not be deployed in a timely manner or be effective against an attack. The inability to implement, maintain and upgrade adequate safeguards could have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Significant disruption to our IT systems, or those of our vendors, or breaches of data security could also have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We may be subject to liabilities and losses that may not be covered by insurance. Our employees and Facility will be subject to the hazards associated with producing battery-grade lithium. Operating hazards can cause personal injury and loss of life, damage to, or destruction of, property, plant and equipment and the environment. We expect to maintain insurance coverage in amounts against the risks that we believe are consistent with industry practice and maintain a safety program. However, we could sustain losses for uninsurable or uninsured risks, or in amounts in excess of existing insurance coverage. Events that result in significant personal injury or damage to our property or to property owned by third parties or other losses that are not fully covered by insurance could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial position. 46 Insurance liabilities are difficult to assess and quantify due to unknown factors, including the severity of an injury, the determination of our liability in proportion to other parties, the number of incidents not reported and the effectiveness of our safety program. If we were to experience insurance claims or costs above our coverage limits or that are not covered by our insurance, we might be required to use working capital to satisfy these claims rather than to maintain or expand our operations. The occurrence of an event that is not fully covered by insurance could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial position. We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information or alleged trade secrets of third parties or competitors or are in breach of noncompetition or non-solicitation agreements with our competitors or their former employers. We may employ or otherwise engage personnel who were previously or are concurrently employed or engaged at research institutions or other clean technology companies, or consult various companies, including ones that could be construed as our competitors or potential competitors. Even though we have processes in place to prevent misappropriate of trade secrets or confidential information, we may be subject to claims that these personnel, or we, have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former or concurrent employers or clients they provide consultancy services to, which are rightfully owned by their former or concurrent employer, or their clients, as the case may be. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could adversely affect our operations, result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management. Lawsuits may be filed against us and an adverse ruling in any such lawsuit may adversely affect our business, financial condition, or liquidity or the market price of our Common Stock. We may become involved in, named as a party to, or be the subject of, various legal proceedings, including regulatory proceedings, tax proceedings, and legal actions relating to personal injuries, property damage, property taxes, land rights, the environment, and contract disputes. The outcome of future legal proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty and may be determined adversely to us and as a result, could have a material adverse impact on our assets, liabilities, business, financial condition, or results of operations. Even if we prevail in any such legal proceeding, the proceedings could be costly, time-consuming, and may divert the attention of management and key personnel from our business operations, which could adversely affect our financial condition. An escalation of the current war in Ukraine, generalized conflict in Europe and the Middle East, or the emergence of conflict elsewhere, may adversely affect our business. An escalation of the current war in Ukraine, generalized conflict in Europe and the Middle East, or the emergence of conflict elsewhere may adversely affect our business if the U.S. capital markets become risk averse for a prolonged period of time, and/or there is a general slowdown in the global economy. Potential tariffs or a global trade war could increase the cost of products we rely upon, which could adversely impact the competitiveness of our business and our financial results. If the U.S. administration or other countries impose additional tariffs, or raise the levels of existing tariffs, or trade restrictions are implemented by the United States or other countries, the cost of products manufactured in the United States and imported into other countries could increase, which in turn could adversely affect the demand for these products and have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Risks Related to Intellectual Property If we fail to adequately protect our intellectual property or technology (including any later developed or acquired intellectual property or technology), our competitive position could be impaired and we may lose valuable assets, generate reduced revenue and incur costly litigation to protect our rights. While we currently have not developed any intellectual property or technology, we may develop, license, or acquire intellectual property in the future that is valuable or material to our business. Our success may depend, in part, on our ability to obtain and maintain protection of such intellectual property in the U.S. and other countries, if we choose to operate in jurisdictions outside of the U.S. We may leverage intellectual property laws to protect such intellectual property (including our brands) and to prevent others from developing and commercializing products or processes that violate our intellectual property rights. However, these means may afford only limited protection and may not prevent our competitors from duplicating our intellectual property, prevent our competitors from gaining access to our proprietary information or technology, or permit us to gain or maintain a competitive advantage. Moreover, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property may be inadequate, and we may choose not to pursue or maintain protection for our intellectual property in the U.S. or foreign jurisdictions. We will not be able to protect our intellectual property if we are unable to enforce our rights or if we do not detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property, and such unauthorized uses may be difficult to detect. It may be possible for unauthorized third parties to copy our technology (whether now or in the future developed, licensed, or acquired) and use information that we regard as proprietary to create technology, products, or services that compete with ours. Any of these scenarios may adversely affect the conduct of our business or our financial position. 47 We may depend on third-party licensors of technology to enforce and protect intellectual property rights that we may license, and such third parties may refuse to enforce and protect such intellectual property rights. Further, if we resort to legal proceedings to enforce our intellectual property rights (such as initiating infringement lawsuit against a third party), the results of such proceedings, regardless of merit, are uncertain and our success cannot be assured. Even if we were to prevail, the proceedings could be burdensome and expensive. Any litigation that may be necessary in the future could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our proprietary information or trade secrets, our business and competitive position may be harmed. We may now or in the future rely upon unpatented trade secrets and know-how, whether belonging to us or our partners, to develop and maintain a competitive position. While we seek to protect such proprietary information, in part, through confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees, collaborators, contractors, advisors, consultants and other third parties, we cannot guarantee that we have entered or will enter into such agreements with each party that has or may have had access to our trade secrets or proprietary information, or that these agreements will not be breached. We may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret is difficult, expensive, and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, some courts inside and outside the U.S. are less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets. If any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor or other third party, we would have no right to prevent them from using that technology or information to compete with us. If any of our trade secrets, now or in the future, were to be disclosed to, or independently developed by, a competitor or other third party, our competitive position could be materially and adversely harmed. We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data and trade secrets by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. While we have confidence in these measures, they may be breached or insufficient, and we may not have adequate remedies for any such breach or insufficiency. We may now or in the future engage in business and technology collaborations with third-party partners that may result in the partner owning, or the parties jointly owning, certain intellectual property, which may be based on or derived from our or the partner’s proprietary information or existing intellectual property. If we do not have adequate rights to use such partner-owned proprietary information or intellectual property, we may be restricted from using it in our process, products, or services. If we and the partner jointly own any such intellectual property, the partner may have the ability to compete with our products and services, or we may be required to make royalty or similar payments to our partner for our use of such intellectual property. We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship or ownership of our future intellectual property, particularly those that may be developed or invented by our employees, consultants or contractors. We may be subject to claims that employees, collaborators, or other third parties have an ownership interest in our future intellectual property, or that of our licensors, including as an inventor or co-inventor. We may be subject to ownership or inventorship disputes in the future arising, for example, from conflicting obligations of consultants, contractors, or others who are involved in developing our intellectual property. Although it is our policy to require our employees and contractors who may be involved in the conception or development of potential intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to us, as may be required in the future, we may be unsuccessful in executing such an agreement with each party who, in fact, conceives or develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship or ownership. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, intellectual property, or be required to pay royalties for access to such intellectual property rights (which may not be commercially reasonable). Other owners may also be able to license such rights to other third parties, including our competitors. Such an outcome could have a material adverse impact on our business and financial condition. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management. 48 If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets and our business may be adversely affected. Our trademarks and trade names (whether registered or unregistered) may be challenged, infringed, circumvented, declared generic, or determined to be violating or infringing on other marks. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names, which we need to build name recognition among potential partners and customers in our markets of interest. At times, competitors or other third parties may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement, or dilution claims brought by owners of other trademarks. We may also be required to pursue litigation to defend and protect our trademarks, which could be costly, may not ultimately be successful, and could be a distraction to management. Opposition or cancellation proceedings may in the future be filed against our trademark applications and registrations (including our U.S. trademark application for “Stardust Power”), and our trademarks or trademark applications may not survive such proceedings. If we do not secure registrations for our trademarks, we may encounter more difficulty in enforcing them against third parties than we otherwise would, and may be more limited in our ability to operate under or use such trademarks. We may be sued by third parties for alleged infringement of their intellectual property rights, which could be costly, time-consuming and limit our ability to use certain technologies in the future. We may become subject to claims that our conduct infringes upon the intellectual property or other proprietary rights of third parties. Defending against, or otherwise addressing, any such claims, whether they are with or without merit, could be time-consuming and expensive, and could divert our management’s attention away from the execution of our business plan. Moreover, any settlement or adverse judgment resulting from these claims could require us to pay substantial amounts or obtain a license to continue to use the disputed intellectual property, or otherwise restrict or prohibit our use of the intellectual property. We cannot guarantee that we would be able to: obtain from the third party asserting the claim a license on commercially reasonable terms, if at all; develop alternative technology on a timely basis, if at all; or obtain a license to use a suitable alternative technology. An adverse determination could also prevent us from licensing our technology to others. Infringement claims asserted against us may have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, or financial condition. Risks Related to Legal, Regulatory, Accounting and Tax Matters Increased stakeholder focus on sustainability matters could adversely impact our business, reputation, and operating results. In recent years, companies across all industries are facing increasing scrutiny from a variety of stakeholders, including investors, customers, employees, regulators, ratings agencies and lenders, related to their sustainability practices. If we do not adapt to or comply with stakeholder expectations and standards on sustainability matters as they continue to evolve, or if we are perceived to have not responded appropriately or quickly enough to growing concern for sustainability issues, regardless of whether there is a regulatory or legal requirement to do so, we may suffer from reputational damage and our business, financial condition and/or stock price could be materially and adversely affected. Additionally, our customers may be driven to purchase our products due to their own sustainability commitments, which may entail holding their suppliers - including us - to sustainability standards that go beyond compliance with laws and regulations and our ability to comply with such standards. Failure to maintain operations that align with such “beyond compliance” standards may cause potential customers to not do business with us or otherwise hurt demand for our products. These and other sustainability concerns could subject us to reputational damage and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. 49 Separately, various regulators have adopted, or are considering adopting, regulations on environmental marketing claims or the prevention of greenwashing more generally, including, but not limited to the use of “sustainable,” “eco-friendly,” “green,” “clean” or similar language in the marketing of products and services or the prevention of greenwashing more generally. Further, there has been increasing scrutiny on sustainability-related claims and frequency of allegations of “greenwashing” against companies making sustainability-related claims due to, among other things, allegations of incomplete, false or misleading disclosures, including with respect to the sustainable nature of their operations and products. Such greenwashing scrutiny and any related regulation may lead to increased compliance costs as well as heightened risk of litigation, reputational damage and enforcement risk. We are and will be subject to environmental, health and safety laws and regulations in multiple jurisdictions, which may impose substantial compliance requirements and other obligations on our operations. Our operating costs could be significantly increased in order to comply with new or more stringent regulatory standards in the jurisdictions in which we operate. Our business is governed by, and will be governed by various foreign, federal, state and local environmental protection and health and safety laws and regulations, including, without limitation, the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (“ OSHA ”), the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act and similar foreign, federal, state and local laws and regulations and permits issued under these laws by foreign, federal, state and local environmental and health and safety regulatory agencies. These laws and regulations establish, among other things, criteria and standards for drinking water, for protection of the environment and the release, remediation, of hazardous substances and public health and safety. Pursuant to these laws, we may be required to obtain various permits and approvals from certain federal, state and local regulatory agencies for our operations. If we violate or fail to comply with these laws, regulations or permits, we could be subject to administrative or civil fines or penalties or other sanctions by regulators and to lawsuits, civil or criminal, seeking enforcement, injunctive relief and/or other damages. If we fail to comply with applicable laws, regulations or permits, our permits or approvals may be terminated or not renewed and/or we could be held liable for damages, injunctive relief and/or monetary fines or penalties. Moreover, governmental authorities and private parties may bring lawsuits based upon damage to property or injury to persons resulting from the environmental, health, and safety impacts of prior and current operations. These lawsuits could lead to the imposition of substantial fines, remediation costs, penalties and other civil and criminal sanctions, as well as reputational harm, including damage to our relationships with customers, suppliers, investors, governments or other stakeholders. Such laws, regulations, enforcement or private claims may have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Additionally, federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment may require a current or previous owner or operator of real estate to investigate and remediate hazardous or toxic substances or petroleum product releases at or from the property. For example, under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) and state equivalents, certain broad categories of persons, including an owner or operator of a property, may become liable for the costs of investigation and remediation, impacts to human health and for damages to natural resources. These laws impose strict and joint and several liability without regard to fault or degree of contribution or whether the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the release of such hazardous substances or whether the conduct giving rise to the release was legal at the time it occurred. We also may be subject to related claims by private parties, including employees, contractors or the general public, alleging property damage and personal injury due to exposure to hazardous or other materials at or from those properties. We may incur substantial costs or other damages associated with these obligations, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. 50 Environmental laws and regulations are complex and may change from time to time, as may related interpretations and guidance. These laws and regulation, and the enforcement thereof, have tended to become more stringent over time. It is possible that new standards could be imposed, either more stringent or more lenient, that could result in higher operating expenses, the obsolescence of our products, or lead to an interruption or suspension of our operations and have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Compliance with health and safety laws and regulations can be complex, and noncompliance with these laws and regulations may result in potentially significant monetary damages and fines. Our operations are and will be subject to a number of federal and state laws and regulations, including OSHA and comparable state statutes establishing requirements to protect the health and safety of workers. The OSHA hazard communication standard, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency community right-to-know regulations under Title III of the federal Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act, and comparable state statutes, require maintenance of information about hazardous materials used or produced in operations and provision of this information to employees, state and local government authorities, and citizens. Other OSHA standards regulate specific worker safety aspects of our operations. Substantial fines and penalties can be imposed, and orders or injunctions limiting or prohibiting certain operations may be issued, in connection with any failure to comply with these laws and regulations. Climate change legislation, regulation and policies may result in increased operating costs and otherwise affect our business, our industry and the global economy. Climate change will potentially have wide ranging impacts, including potential impacts to our operations. In December 2015, the 21 st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change resulted in nearly 200 countries, including the United States, coming together to develop the Paris Agreement, which includes pledges to voluntarily limit and reduce future emissions. Additionally, at the 28 th Conference of the Parties, nearly 200 member countries, including the U.S., entered into an agreement to transition away from fossil fuels while accelerating action in this decade to achieve net zero by 2050. The agreement includes calls for actions towards achieving, at a global scale, a tripling of renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency improvements by 2030, as well as accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power and, phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, among other measures. Most recently, at the 29th Conference of the Parties (“ COP29 ”), 159 countries met and, among other things, agreed on rules to operationalize international carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, including a new Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism to trade UN-approved carbon credits. Additionally, participants at COP29 representing 159 countries met to review progress toward the goals of the Global Methane Pledge and the addition of nearly $500 million in new grant funding for methane abatement. However, in January 2025, President Trump issued executive orders directing the immediate notice to the United Nations of the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and all other agreements made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. At the same time, various state and local governments have also publicly committed to furthering the goals of the Paris Agreement and many of these initiatives are expected to continue. These, and other proposed regulations could increase our current and future production costs and the costs of our customers, which could decrease demand for our products. Changing laws and regulations and global and domestic policy developments have the potential to disrupt our business, the business of our suppliers and/or customers, or otherwise adversely impact our business’ financial condition. While we believe that many of these policies will be favorable for our lithium operations, there is no guarantee that such potential changes in laws, regulations, or policies will be favorable to our Company, to existing or future customers, or to large-scale economic, environmental, or geopolitical conditions. 51 The physical impacts of climate change, including adverse weather, may have a negative impact on our business and results of operations. Climate change may potentially have wide-ranging physical impacts, including significant weather conditions, such as increased severity and frequency of droughts, storms, floods, wildfires and other climatic events. If such significant weather conditions were to occur, they could disrupt or delay our operations, damage our facilities, adversely affect or delay demand for our products or cause us to incur significant costs in preparing for, or responding to, the effects of climatic events themselves, which may not be fully insured. In addition, the physical effects of climate change may generally result in increased prices for and reduced availability of relevant insurance coverage on the market. Any one of these factors has the potential to have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flow. The reduction or elimination of government subsidies and economic incentives for alternative energy technologies, or the failure to renew such subsidies and incentives, could reduce demand for our products, lead to a reduction in our revenues, and adversely impact our operating results and liquidity. Near-term growth of alternative energy technologies is affected by the availability and size of government and economic incentives. Many of these government incentives expire, phase out over time, may exhaust the allocated funding, or require renewal by the applicable authority. In addition, these incentive programs could be reduced or discontinued for other reasons. The IRA contains a number of tax incentive provisions, some of which we intend to utilize. This legislation was adopted in August 2022, and forthcoming interagency guidance processes are still ongoing. We, and our customers and suppliers, have not yet seen the impact these IRA-related incentives may have on our business and operations and cannot guarantee that we will realize anticipated benefits of incentives under the IR Act. Furthermore, changes or amendments to clean energy tax credits might be more favorable to other technologies. In addition, the IR Act, the IRA and other recent legislation make available certain grants and other funding opportunities for alternative energy projects, some of which we intend to apply for and, if awarded, utilize. Additionally, in January 2025, President Trump issued an executive order directing an immediate pause on the disbursement of funds appropriated through the BIL, IR Act and the IRA, and announced efforts to remove government incentives for electric vehicles. This pause on disbursement is subject to ongoing legal challenges. The IR Act and the IRA may also be subject to efforts to amend or repeal, including through Congressional budget reconciliation. Any reduction, elimination, or discriminatory application of expiration of the government subsidies and economic incentives, or the failure to renew tax credit programs, governmental subsidies, or economic incentives, may result in the diminished economic competitiveness of our products to our customers or the availability of supply, and could materially and adversely affect the growth of alternative energy technologies, including our products, as well as our future operating results and liquidity. Existing, and future changes to, federal, state and local regulations and policies, including permitting requirements applicable to us, and enactment of new regulations and policies, may adversely affect the market for environmental attributes generated by our operations. The markets for environmental attributes are influenced by U.S. federal and state governmental regulations and policies. Our ability to generate revenue from sales of environmental attributes depends on our strict compliance with such federal and state programs, which are complex and can involve a significant degree of judgment. If the agencies that administer and enforce these programs disagree with our judgments, otherwise determine that we are not in compliance, conduct reviews of our activities or make changes to the programs, then our ability to generate or sell these credits could be temporarily restricted pending completion of reviews or as a penalty, permanently limited, or lost entirely, and we could also be subject to fines or other sanctions. Compliance with data privacy regulations could require additional expenditures, and may have an adverse impact on the operating cashflows of the Company. Our Chief Financial Officer is responsible for assessing, identifying and managing cyber security risks. He is supported by outside consulting services. The Chief Financial Officer, along with the third-party consultants, are informed of, and monitor, cybersecurity incidents. Employees of our Company receive training to minimize cybersecurity risks and attest to their understanding in the Code of Conduct which includes cybersecurity. The protocols are reviewed annually. Additional measures are taken, such as the use of two-factor authentication on our Company’s systems, and employed to further reduce threats. Despite the measures we take to assess, identify and manage cyber security risks, there can be no assurance that the various procedures and controls we use to mitigate these risks will be sufficient to prevent disruptions to our IT systems. 52 We identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in prior year. If we experience additional material weaknesses or other deficiencies in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial results, which could result in loss of investor confidence and adversely impact our stock price. We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, (as amended, the “ Sarbanes-Oxley Act ”), the Dodd-Frank Act and other applicable securities rules and regulations. In particular, we are subject to reporting obligations under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that require us to include a management report on our internal control over financial reporting in our annual report, which contains management’s assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Internal controls must be evaluated continuously and be properly designed and executed by a sufficient level of properly trained staff to maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting. During the period from March 16, 2023 (inception) to December 31, 2023, management identified material weaknesses in the implementation of the COSO 13 Framework (which establishes an effective control environments), lack of segregation of duties and management oversight, and control surrounding maintenance of adequate repository of contracts, appropriate classifications of expenses and complex financial instruments. Management implemented certain controls in fiscal year 2024 to the remediate the material weakness. Management believes that the new procedures and controls provide an appropriate remediation of the material weaknesses that have been identified and these will strengthen the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting. In the opinion of management, the revised control processes have been operating for a sufficient period of time and independently validated by management. We expect these systems and controls to involve significant expenditures and to may become more complex as our business grows. To effectively manage this complexity, we will need to continue to improve our operational, financial, and management controls, and our reporting systems and procedures. Our inability to successfully remediate any future material weaknesses or other deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting or any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in the implementation or operation of these controls, could harm our operating results and cause us to fail to meet our financial reporting obligations or result in material misstatements in our consolidated financial statements, which could limit our liquidity and access to capital markets, adversely affect our business and investor confidence in our consolidated financial statements, and adversely impact our stock price. Risks Related to Ownership of Securities and Operating as a Public Company Our shares of Common Stock are thinly traded, so stockholders may be unable to sell at or near ask prices or at all if they need to sell shares to raise money or otherwise desire to liquidate their shares. Our Common Stock has from time to time been “thinly traded,” meaning that the number of persons interested in purchasing our Common Stock at or near ask prices at any given time may be relatively small or non-existent. This situation is attributable to a number of factors, including the fact that we are a small company that is relatively unknown to stock analysts, stock brokers, institutional investors and others in the investment community that generate or influence sales volume, and that even if we came to the attention of such persons, they tend to be risk-averse and would be reluctant to follow an unproven company such as ours or purchase or recommend the purchase of our shares until such time as we become more seasoned and viable. As a consequence, there may be periods of several days or more when trading activity in our shares is minimal or non-existent, as compared to a seasoned issuer which has a large and steady volume of trading activity that will generally support continuous sales without an adverse effect on share price. We cannot give stockholders any assurance that a broader or more active public trading market for our common shares will develop or be sustained, or that current trading levels will be sustained. Upon our dissolution, our stockholders may not recoup all or any portion of their investment. In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding-up, whether voluntary or involuntary, the proceeds and/or our assets remaining after giving effect to such transaction, and the payment of all of our debts and liabilities will be distributed to the holders of Common Stock on a pro rata basis. There can be no assurance that we will have available assets to pay to the holders of Common Stock, or any amounts, upon such a liquidation, dissolution or winding-up. In this event, our stockholders could lose some or all of their investment. An active trading market for our Common Stock may never develop or be sustained, which may make it difficult to sell the shares of Common Stock you receive. The price of our Common Stock may fluctuate significantly due to general market and economic conditions and forecasts, our general business condition and the release of our financial reports. An active trading market for our Common Stock may not develop or continue or, if developed, may not be sustained, which would make it difficult for stockholders to sell their shares of Common Stock at an attractive price (or at all). The market price of our Common Stock may decline below stockholders’ deemed purchase price, and they may not be able to sell their shares of Common Stock at or above that price (or at all). Additionally, if our Common Stock is delisted from Nasdaq for any reason and is quoted on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board, an inter-dealer automated quotation system for equity securities that is not a national securities exchange, the liquidity and price of our Common Stock may be more limited than if we were quoted or listed on Nasdaq or another national securities exchange. Stockholders may be unable to sell Common Stock unless a market can be established or sustained. 53 We may not be able to regain compliance with the Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements and rules, the Nasdaq may delist our Common Stock and Public Warrants, which could negatively affect the Company, the price of our Common Stock and Public Warrants and our shareholders’ ability to sell our Common Stock and Public Warrants. The Nasdaq has several listing requirements set forth in the Nasdaq Listing Rules. For example, Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(a)(1) requires that our Common Stock trade at a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share (the “ Minimum Price Rule ”). Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(b)(2)(C) requires that the Company maintain a minimum market value of publicly held shares of $15,000,000 (the “ MVPHS Rule ”). On March 18, 2025, we received a notice (the “ MVPHS Notice ”) from the Nasdaq that the Company was not in compliance with the continued listing standards set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(b)(2)(C), as the Company’s market value of publicly held shares closed below $15,000,000 for the previous 30 consecutive business days. On March 19, 2025, we received a subsequent notice (the “ Minimum Bid Price Notice ”) from the Nasdaq that the Company was not in compliance with the continued listing standards set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(a)(1), as the minimum bid price of the Company’s Common Stock closed below $1.00 per share for the previous 30 consecutive business days. The MVPHS Notice and Minimum Bid Price Notice have no present impact on the listing of the Company’s securities on the Nasdaq Global Market. Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company has a period of 180 calendar days, or until September 15, 2025, to regain compliance with the Minimum Price Rule. To regain compliance with the Minimum Price Rule, during the 180-day compliance period, the minimum bid price of the Company’s listed securities must close at $1.00 per share or more for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days. To regain compliance with the MVPHS Rule, during the 180-day compliance period, the market value of publicly held shares must close at $15,000,000 or more for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days. If compliance is not achieved with both rules by September 15, 2025, Nasdaq will provide written notification to the Company that its securities are subject to delisting. At such time, the Company may appeal the delisting determination to a Hearings Panel. The Company continues to monitor the bid price for the Common Stock and the market value of publicly held shares. If the Company’s listed securities do not trade at levels that are likely to regain compliance, the Company’s Board of Directors will consider the options available to achieve compliance. We intend to regain compliance with the Nasdaq listing standards by pursuing measures that are in our best interest and the best interest of our shareholders. There is no assurance that our efforts will be successful, nor is there any assurance that we will regain compliance with either the Minimum Price Rule or the MVPHS Rule or remain in compliance with such section or other Nasdaq continued listing standards in the future. A delisting of our Common Stock or Public Warrants from the Nasdaq could negatively impact us by, among other things, reducing the liquidity and market price of our Common Stock or Public Warrants; reducing the number of investors willing to hold or acquire our Common Stock or Public Warrants, which could negatively impact our ability to raise equity financing; limiting our ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future; decreasing the amount of news and analyst coverage of us; and causing us reputational harm with investors, our employees, and parties conducting business with us. Delaware law and the Governing Documents contain certain provisions, including anti-takeover provisions, that limit the ability of stockholders to take certain actions and could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable. Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws s and the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying, or preventing an acquisition that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our Common Stock, and therefore depress the trading price of our Common Stock. These provisions could also make it difficult for stockholders to take certain actions, including electing directors who are not nominated by the current stockholders or taking other corporate actions, including effecting changes in our management. Among other things, the Governing Documents include provisions regarding: ● the ability of the Company’s Board to issue shares of preferred stock, including “blank check” preferred stock and to determine the price and other terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights, without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquirer; ● the Certificate of Incorporation prohibits cumulative voting in the election of directors, which limits the ability of minority stockholders to elect director candidates; ● the limitation of the liability of, and the indemnification of, the Company directors and officers; ● the ability of the Board to amend the Bylaws, which may allow the Board to take additional actions to prevent an unsolicited takeover and inhibit the ability of an acquirer to amend the Bylaws to facilitate an unsolicited takeover attempt; ● the Certificate of Incorporation provides for a classified Board serving staggered, three-year terms, making it impossible for stockholders to replace the entire Board at one time, which will give stockholders less control over corporate and management policies of the Company, including with respect to potential mergers or acquisitions, payment of dividends, asset sales, amendment of the Governing Documents, and other significant corporate transactions of the Company; ● advance notice procedures with which stockholders must comply to nominate candidates to the Board or to propose matters to be acted upon at a stockholders’ meeting, which could preclude stockholders from bringing matters before annual or extraordinary general meetings of stockholders and delay changes in the Board and may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of the Company; ● providing that the Board is expressly authorized to make, alter or repeal the Bylaws; ● the removal of the directors of the Board by its stockholders with or without cause; ● the ability of the Board to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of the Board or the resignation, death, or removal of a director in certain circumstances; ● the Certificate of Incorporation prohibits, subject to the rights of the holders of shares of preferred stock to act by written consent, any stockholders from taking any action by written consent; and ● that certain provisions may be amended only by the affirmative vote of holders of at least two-thirds of the shares of the outstanding capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of the Company directors. These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in the Board or management. 54 Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forums for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or employees. Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for the following types of actions or proceedings under Delaware statutory or common law: ● any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; ● any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty; ● any action asserting a claim against us arising under the DGCL, our Governing Documents; ● any action seeking to interpret, apply, enforce, or determine the validity of our Governing Documents; ● any action as to which DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware; and ● any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal-affairs doctrine. This provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all such Securities Act actions. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such claims. To prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, our Certificate of Incorporation provides that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. While the Delaware courts have determined that such choice of forum provisions are facially valid and several state trial courts have enforced such provisions and required that suits asserting Securities Act claims be filed in federal court, there is no guarantee that courts of appeal will affirm the enforceability of such provisions, and a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim in a venue other than those designated in the exclusive forum provisions. In such instance, we would expect to vigorously assert the validity and enforceability of the exclusive forum provisions of our Certificate of Incorporation. This may require significant additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions and there can be no assurance that the provisions will be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions. If a court were to find either exclusive forum provision in our Certificate of Incorporation, to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur further significant additional costs associated with litigating Securities Act claims in state court, or both state and federal court, which could seriously harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. These exclusive forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. It is not possible to predict the actual number of shares we will sell under the Purchase Agreement to B. Riley Principal Capital II, or the actual gross proceeds resulting from those sales. On October 7, 2024, we entered into a Purchase Agreement with B. Riley Principal Capital II, pursuant to which B. Riley Principal Capital II has committed to purchase up to $50,000,000 of shares of our Common Stock, subject to certain limitations and conditions set forth in the Purchase Agreement. The shares of our Common Stock that may be issued under the Purchase Agreement may be sold by us to B. Riley Principal Capital II at our discretion from time to time for a period of up to 36 months (unless the Purchase Agreement is earlier terminated) beginning on the date on which the registration statement registering the shares of Common Stock issued to B. Riley Principal Capital II for resale has been declared effective by the SEC and all other conditions to B. Riley Principal Capital II’s obligations to purchase the Common Stock set forth in the Purchase Agreement have been initially satisfied. We generally have the right to control the timing and amount of any sales of our shares of Common Stock to B. Riley Principal Capital II under the Purchase Agreement. Sales of our Common Stock, if any, to B. Riley Principal Capital II under the Purchase Agreement will depend upon market conditions and other factors to be determined by us. We may ultimately decide to sell to B. Riley Principal Capital II all, some or none of the shares of our Common Stock that may be available for us to sell to B. Riley Principal Capital II pursuant to the Purchase Agreement. Depending on market liquidity at the time, resales of those shares by B. Riley Principal Capital II may cause the public trading price of our Common Stock to decrease. 55 Because the per share purchase price that B. Riley Principal Capital II will pay for shares of Common Stock that we may elect to effect pursuant to the Purchase Agreement will fluctuate based on the market prices of our Common Stock during the applicable purchase valuation period for each purchase made pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, it is not possible for us to predict, as of the date of this Annual Report and prior to any such sales, the number of shares of Common Stock that we will sell to B. Riley Principal Capital II under the Purchase Agreement, the purchase price per share that B. Riley Principal Capital II will pay for shares purchased from us under the Purchase Agreement, or the aggregate gross proceeds that we will receive from those purchases by B. Riley Principal Capital II under the Purchase Agreement. Although the Purchase Agreement provides that we may sell up to an aggregate of $50,000,000 of our Common Stock to B. Riley Principal Capital II, only 6,500,000 shares of our Common Stock (of which 63,694 represent the commitment shares we issued to B. Riley Principal Capital II upon our execution of the Purchase Agreement on October 7, 2024) are being registered under the Securities Act for resale by B. Riley Principal Capital II pursuant to a Registration Statement on Form S-1. If it becomes necessary for us to issue and sell to B. Riley Principal Capital II under the Purchase Agreement more than the 6,436,306 shares being registered in order to receive aggregate gross proceeds equal to $50,000,000 under the Purchase Agreement, we must first (i) obtain stockholder approval to issue more than 9,569,701 shares of Common Stock, the number of shares representing 19.99% of the shares of Common Stock outstanding immediately prior to the execution of the Purchase Agreement, in accordance with applicable Nasdaq rules (assuming such shares to not qualify for exclusion from such share limit because they were sold at a price exceeding the “minimum price” calculated in accordance with Nasdaq rules) and (ii) file with the SEC one or more additional registration statements to register under the Securities Act the resale by B. Riley Principal Capital II of any such additional shares of our Common Stock we wish to sell from time to time under the Purchase Agreement, which the SEC must declare effective, in each case before we may elect to sell any additional shares of our Common Stock to B. Riley Principal Capital II under the Purchase Agreement. The number of shares of Common Stock ultimately offered for resale by B. Riley Principal Capital II is dependent upon the number of shares of Common Stock, if any, we elect to sell to B. Riley Principal Capital II under the Purchase Agreement. Any issuance and sale by us under the Purchase Agreement of a substantial amount of shares of Common Stock in addition to the 6,500,000 shares of Common Stock being registered for resale could cause additional substantial dilution to our stockholders. Our inability to access a portion or the full amount available under the Purchase Agreement, in the absence of any other financing sources, could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations and cash flows. General Risk Factors Significant inflation could adversely affect our business and financial results. Although historically our operations have not been materially affected by inflation and we have been successful in adjusting prices to our customers to reflect changes in our material and labor costs, the rate of current inflation and resulting pressures on our costs and pricing could adversely impact our business and financial results. Inflation can adversely affect us by increasing our operating costs, including our materials, freight and labor costs. As interest rates rise to address inflation, such increases will also impact the base rates applicable in our credit arrangements and will result in borrowed funds becoming more expensive to us over time; similar financing pressures from inflation also can have a negative impact on customers’ willingness to purchase our technologies and services in the same volumes and at the same rates as previously anticipated. In a highly inflationary environment, we may be unable to raise the prices of our technologies and services at or above the rate of inflation, which could reduce our profit margin. 56 The Company’s business and operations could be negatively affected if it becomes subject to any securities litigation or stockholder activism, which could cause the Company to incur significant expense, hinder execution of business and growth strategy and impact its stock price. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been brought against that company. Stockholder activism, which could take many forms or arise in a variety of situations, has been increasing recently. Volatility in the stock price of the Common Stock or other reasons may in the future cause it to become the target of securities litigation or stockholder activism. Securities litigation and stockholder activism, including potential proxy contests, could result in substantial costs and divert management’s and the Board’s attention and resources from the Company’s business. Additionally, such securities litigation and stockholder activism could give rise to perceived uncertainties as to the Company’s future, adversely affect its relationships with service providers and make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel. Also, the Company may be required to incur significant legal fees and other expenses related to any securities litigation and activist stockholder matters. Further, its stock price could be subject to significant fluctuation or otherwise be adversely affected by the events, risks and uncertainties of any securities litigation and stockholder activism. The price of the Company’s securities may be volatile. The price of the Company’s securities may fluctuate due to a variety of factors, including: ● changes in the industry in which the Company operates; ● the success of competitive services or technologies; ● developments involving the Company’s competitors; ● regulatory or legal developments in the United States and other countries; ● developments or disputes concerning our intellectual property or other proprietary rights; ● the recruitment or departure of key personnel; ● actual or anticipated changes in estimates as to financial results, development timelines or recommendations by securities analysts; ● variations in our financial results or those of companies that are perceived to be similar to us; ● general economic, industry and market conditions, such as the effects of recessions, interest rates, inflation, international currency fluctuations, political instability and acts of war or terrorism; and the other factors described in this “ Risk Factors ” section. These market and industry factors may materially reduce the market price of Common Stock regardless of the operating performance of Stardust Power. In addition, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have frequently been the subject of securities class action and stockholder derivative litigation. We could be the target of such litigation in the future. Class action and derivative lawsuits, whether successful or not, could result in substantial costs, damage or settlement awards and a diversion of our management’s resources and attention from running our business, which could materially harm our reputation, financial condition and results of operations. The Company does not intend to pay cash dividends for the foreseeable future. The Company currently intends to retain its future earnings, if any, to finance the further development and expansion of its business and does not intend to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of the Board and will depend on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and future agreements and financing instruments, business prospects and such other factors as the Board deems relevant. As a result, you may not receive any return on an investment in Common Stock unless you sell Common Stock for a price greater than that which you paid for it. 57 The Company qualifies as an “emerging growth company.” The reduced public company reporting requirements applicable to emerging growth companies may make the Common Stock less attractive to investors. We qualify as an “emerging growth company” under SEC rules. As an emerging growth company, we are permitted and plan to and do rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. These provisions include, but are not limited to: (1) an exemption from compliance with the auditor attestation requirement in the assessment of internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; (2) not being required to comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the consolidated financial statements; (3) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation arrangements in periodic reports, registration statements and proxy statements; and (4) exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. As a result, the information we provide will be different than the information that is available with respect to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. If some investors find the Common Stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for the Common Stock and the market price of the Common Stock may be more volatile. A small number of stockholders continue to have substantial control over Stardust Power, which may limit other stockholders’ ability to influence corporate matters and delay or prevent a third party from acquiring control over the Company. The directors and executive officers of the Company, and beneficial owners that own 5% or more of its voting securities and their respective affiliates, beneficially own, in the aggregate, approximately 75% of the Company’s outstanding Common Stock. Though the ownership percentage will be diluted if and to the extent the Company sells Common Stock, a small number of stockholders will still have a significant concentration of ownership and this may have a negative impact on the trading price for the Common Stock because investors often perceive disadvantages in owning stock in companies with controlling stockholders. In addition, these stockholders will be able to exercise influence over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of corporate transactions, such as a merger or other sale of the Company or its assets. This concentration of ownership could limit stockholders’ ability to influence corporate matters and may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control, including a merger, consolidation, or other business combination or discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control, even if that Change in Control would benefit the other stockholders. Warrants may be exercised for Common Stock, which would increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in further dilution to our stockholders. Outstanding warrants to purchase Common Stock may be exercised by the holders of those warrants. To the extent such warrants are exercised, additional shares of Common Stock will be issued, which will result in further dilution to the holders of shares of Common Stock and increase the number of shares of Common Stock eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market or the fact that such warrants may be exercised could adversely affect the market price of shares of Common Stock. If the Company’s operating and financial performance in any given period does not meet the guidance provided to the public or the expectations of investment analysts, the market price of the Common Stock may decline. We may, but are not obligated to, provide public guidance on our expected operating and financial results for future periods. Any such guidance will consist of forward-looking statements, subject to the risks and uncertainties described in this annual report and in our other public filings and public statements. The ability to provide this public guidance, and the ability to accurately forecast our results of operations, could be negatively impacted by macroeconomic uncertainty and the current conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Our actual results may not always be in line with or exceed any guidance we have provided, especially in times of unfavorable or uncertain economic and market conditions, such as the current global economic uncertainty being experienced and the current inflationary environment in the United States. If, in the future, our operating or financial results for a particular period do not meet any guidance provided or the expectations of investment analysts, or if we reduce our guidance for future periods, the market price of the Common Stock may decline as well. Even if we do issue public guidance, there can be no assurance that we will continue to do so in the future. 58 If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about the Company’s business or publish negative reports, the market price of the Common Stock could decline. The trading market for the Common Stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us and our business. If regular publication of research reports ceases, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause the market price or trading volume of the Common Stock to decline. Moreover, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade the Common Stock or if reporting results do not meet their expectations, the market price of the Common Stock could decline. We may issue additional shares of the Common Stock (including upon the exercise of warrants), which would increase the number of shares of Common Stock eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to the Company stockholders. Outstanding warrants to purchase Common Stock may be exercised by the holders of those warrants. There is no guarantee that the warrants will ever be in the money prior to their expiration, and, as such, the warrants may expire worthless. The issuance of additional shares of Common Stock as a result of any of the aforementioned transactions may result in dilution to the then-existing holders of Common Stock and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market could adversely affect the market price of the Common Stock. We cannot predict the ultimate value of the warrants. Sales of substantial numbers of shares issued upon the exercise of the warrants in the public market or the potential that such warrants may be exercised could also adversely affect the market price of the Common Stock. A sale of a substantial number of shares of our Common Stock may cause the price of our Common Stock to decline. Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Common Stock in the public market could occur at any time. If our stockholders sell, or the market perceives that our stockholders intend to sell, substantial amounts of our Common Stock in the public market, the market price of our Common Stock could decline significantly. We cannot predict what effect, if any, sales of our shares in the public market or the availability of shares for sale will have on the market price of our Common Stock. However, future sales of substantial amounts of our Common Stock in the public market, including shares issued upon exercise of outstanding options or vesting and settlement of outstanding restricted stock units, or the perception that such sales may occur, could adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock. We also expect that significant additional capital will be needed in the future to continue our planned operations. To raise capital, we may sell Common Stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner we determine from time to time. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our Common Stock. 59 The Company may issue additional shares of Common Stock or other equity securities without your approval, which would dilute your ownership interests and may depress the market price of the Common Stock. Pursuant to the Stardust Power 2024 Equity Plan, we may issue an aggregate of up to the number of shares equal to ten percent (10%) of Common Stock issued and outstanding at Closing, which amount will be subject to increase from time to time. We may also issue additional shares of Common Stock or other equity securities of equal or senior rank in the future in connection with, among other things, potential financings, future acquisitions or repayment of outstanding indebtedness, without stockholder approval, in a number of circumstances. The issuance of additional shares or other equity securities of equal or senior rank would have the following effects: ● existing equity shareholders’ proportionate ownership interest in the Company will decrease; ● the rights of holders of Common Stock will be subordinated if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded Common Stock; ● the Company’s “controlled company” status will be impacted; and ● existing equity shareholders’ proportionate ownership interest in the Company will decrease. The Company is a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq rules and, as a result, qualifies for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are not exempt from such corporate governance requirements. As at December 31, 2024, Roshan Pujari, had voting power over approximately 61% of the aggregate voting power of the issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock of the Company. As a result, the Company is considered a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Under Nasdaq rules, a controlled company may elect not to comply with certain Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that: ● a majority of the board consist of independent directors under Nasdaq rules; ● the nominating and governance committee be composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and ● the compensation committee be composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities. These requirements will not apply to the Company as long as the Company remains a controlled company. The Company may utilize some or all of these exemptions. Accordingly, you may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq. If the Company ceases to be a “controlled company” and its shares continue to be listed on the Nasdaq, it will be required to comply with these standards, subject to a permitted “phase-in” period. These and any other actions necessary to achieve compliance with such rules may increase the Company’s legal and administrative costs, will make some activities more difficult, time-consuming and costly and may also place additional strain on the Company’s personnel, systems and resources. The Company is a holding company and its only material assets are its interest in its subsidiaries, and it is accordingly dependent upon distributions made by its subsidiaries to pay taxes and pay dividends. The Company is a holding company with no material assets other than the equity interests in our direct and indirect subsidiaries. As a result, we have no independent means of generating revenue or cash flow and our ability to pay taxes and pay dividends will depend on the financial results and cash flows of our subsidiaries and the distributions we receive from our subsidiaries. Deterioration in the financial condition, earnings or cash flow of our subsidiaries for any reason could limit or impair such subsidiaries’ ability to pay such distributions. Additionally, if we need funds and our subsidiaries are restricted from making such distributions under applicable law or regulation or under the terms of any financing arrangements, or our subsidiaries are otherwise unable to provide such funds, our liquidity and financial condition could be adversely affected. Dividends on Common Stock, if any, will be paid at the discretion of the Board, which will consider, among other things, our Company’s business, operating results, financial condition, current and expected cash needs, plans for expansion and any legal or contractual limitations on its ability to pay such dividends. Financing arrangements may include restrictive covenants that restrict our ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to our stockholders. In addition, entities are generally prohibited under relevant law from making a distribution to a stockholder to the extent that, at the time of the distribution, after giving effect to the distribution, the liabilities of such entity (subject to certain exceptions) exceed the fair value of its assets. If our subsidiaries do not have sufficient funds to make distributions, our ability to declare and pay cash dividends may also be restricted or impaired. Stardust Power and its subsidiaries would be restricted from making distributions or advances to us under its existing credit facilities or other financing arrangements. 60