Ioneer lithium clay development agreement

Seeking every advantage when it comes to the efficient and sustainable production of lithium and boron at its Rhyolite Ridge project in Nevada, Ioneer Ltd. has signed a research and development memorandum of understanding with Korea-based EcoPro Innovation Co. Ltd. to study the lithium clay resources at this prospective lithium-boron property.

Situated about 200 road miles southeast of the Tesla Gigafactory Nevada, Rhyolite Ridge is a development-staged lithium-boron project that is anticipated to produce an average of roughly 20,600 metric tons of lithium needed for the batteries powering electric vehicles and storing renewable energy, plus 174,400 metric tons of boric acid per year.

This is enough battery-grade lithium hydroxide for roughly 370,000 electric vehicle batteries annually, plus significant quantities of the boric acid needed for several key climate technologies over an initial 26-year operation detailed in a 2020 feasibility study for the project.

Per early arrangements, EcoPark will conduct research and development on the lithium clay resource – one of three distinct styles of lithium mineralization found at Rhyolite Ridge, with the ultimate goal of developing a process to commercialize the property's lithium clay into refined lithium materials for the North American EV battery supply chain.

"We are delighted to build upon our partnership with EcoPro," said Ioneer Executive Chairman James Calaway. "We look forward to accelerating development of another layer of Rhyolite Ridge mineralization. This partnership provides Ioneer additional financial flexibility to focus on delivering its core investment at Rhyolite Ridge as well as develop growth opportunities."

Home to one of only a handful of lithium-boron deposits in the world, Rhyolite Ridge is expected to become a globally significant, long-life, cost-effective source of lithium.

"The ultimate goal of EcoPro and Ioneer is to increase the supply of refined lithium materials for the U.S. EV supply chain and create hundreds of good-paying jobs in Nevada and beyond," added Calaway.

As part of the preliminary agreement, EcoPro would fund and build a commercial-scale refining plant to develop the lithium clay supplied from Rhyolite Ridge. This raw material would then be supplied to EcoPro at no additional costs, while the profits from the commercial refining plant would be shared equally between the partners.

"Lithium extraction technology is not just a process of selectively extracting lithium but a complex and difficult technology that requires removing uncertain impurities," said EcoPro Innovation President Anthony Kim. "EcoPro Innovation has an original patent for lithium extraction from waste batteries and launched its business in EcoPro Group. EcoPro Innovation is a technology-competitive company with a number of source patents in hydromet processes. We will perform well as soon as possible to gain the upper hand from other competitors."

Once operational, the new facility will kickstart stage one of Rhyolite Ridge, which the company says will quadruple the current U.S. supply of lithium and help to rebalance the global production of boric acid.

Upon the anticipated completion of the permitting required to establish the facility – largely funded through the combination of conditional commitments of $490 million in equity from Sibanye-Stillwater and a $700 million conditional loan from the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office – construction on the property is slated to begin in 2024 with groundbreaking to follow in 2026.