Report Finds Increase in Potential Lithium at Rhyolite Ridge Project in Nevada

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--ioneer Limited (Sydney, New South Wales) said Wednesday that a commissioned report found a 168% increase in potential lithium carbonate, a critical material in manufacturing electric vehicle (EV) batteries, at its proposed Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project in Silverpeak, Nevada.

The project is in the final stage of federal permitting. Its plan of operations was submitted to the Bureau of Land Management in July 2022 for an environmental review as part of the National Environmental Policy Act. A positive Record of Decision from the agency would allow construction to begin.

Once federal permitting and construction is complete, Rhyolite Ridge is expected to "quadruple current U.S. lithium chemical output," the company said, and added the project "is now estimated to hold enough lithium carbonate ... to power upward of 50 million electric vehicles with further expansion potential pending additional exploration."

The new mineral resource report, from multinational engineering and design firm WSP USA (New York, New York), estimates the project's deposit contains 3.4 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent and 14.1 million tons of boric acid equivalent, up 168% and 18%, respectively, from an April 2020 statement released by ioneer.

The Rhyolite Ridge project includes the construction of mining, extraction and processing facilities. An open-pit, $640 million grassroot aboveground lithium-boron mine and mill is designed to produce 20 million tons per year, with a 26-year mine life; an on-site production plant would produce more than 170,000 tons per year of boric acid and 20,600 tons per year of lithium carbonate. Also under development are a sulfuric acid plant to leach ores produced in the mining process; a power plant that would utilize steam from the sulfuric acid plant; and a spent-ore storage facility expansion.

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In September 2021, ioneer entered a 50:50 joint venture agreement, which has yet to close, with Sibanye-Stillwater Limited (NYSE:SBSW) to develop the project. ioneer would retain full operatorship.

In January, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a proposed conditional loan of $700 million for the project over about 10 years, but the close of the loan "is conditional on several achievements including a positive Record of Decision and Final Investment Decision," by both ioneer and Sibanye-Stillwater.

Three companies have signed offtake agreements for lithium carbonate from Rhyolite Ridge, including South Korean chemicals company EcoPro, the world's second-largest cathode producer, and Prime Planet Energy & Solutions, a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) (Aichi, Japan) and Panasonic Corporation (Osaka, Japan). Lastly, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) (Dearborn, Michigan) will offtake 7,000 tons per year over a five-year term, which represents about 34% of the Rhyolite Ridge's annual output in the first five years of production, according to an ioneer press release announcing the agreement.

Two separate reports from the International Energy Agency (IEA) (Paris, France) highlight the need for lithium batteries, as governmental policies could boost demand and EV sales continue to rise. For more information, see Industrial Info's August 26, 2022, article - IEA Report: World Needs More Lithium for Batteries, and April 27, 2023, article - IEA: Global EV Sales Rose Sharply in 2022, Strong Growth Expected to Continue.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).