What are the latest updates at Rhyolite Ridge?

The Rhyolite Ridge project is in its final stages of permitting, and we are currently putting the financing in place. We expect to start producing lithium and boric acid in late 2025. The project’s initial mine life is around 26 years, and it will produce an average of around 22,000 t/y of lithium carbonate and around 174,000 t/y of boric acid. While there may be variations over time, the lithium output is expected to be relatively constant. The reserve estimate for the project is based on 60 million tons, but they have already drilled a total of 146 million tons of resources. This means we could potentially double production or extend the mine life. Overall, the Rhyolite Ridge project is expected to be a long-life, low-cost supplier of lithium for the US. The project’s socio-economic impact is considerable, with approximately 500 direct jobs expected to be created during the construction phase and about 250 full-time jobs during operation.

Can you expand on ioneer’s community initiatives?

I understand the importance of making sure our operation has a positive impact on the broader community and allows us to participate in the benefits of the transition to the new energy economy. We believe that this goes beyond providing jobs and means being integrated into the community. For instance, about 200 people live in Fish Lake Valley, and we know most of them, as we have been working in the area long before the Rhyolite Ridge project came along. One of the most important things of all is communication, which includes listening, informing, and providing feedback to the community. For years, we have also provided updates to local elected officials and engaged with Tribal representatives. We have programs at the local school where our chemical engineers and scientists assist with STEM-type classes. We sponsor social events and help raise funds for projects such as the local emergency medical team.

What measures will ioneer leverage to make Rhyolite Ridge the most water-efficient lithium operation in the US?

There are several types of lithium mines, and the only active producer in the US is a brine operation called Silver Peak. Highly saline water is pumped out into shallow ponds, the water evaporates, and lithium and other salts concentrate. This process uses the sun’s energy to evaporate large quantities of water. The Rhyolite Ridge project is different, as it involves solid rock mining and crushing. We will extract the lithium and boron from the crushed rock by using a vat leaching process, which is the same as used in the copper industry. This process removes the lithium and boron from the rock and puts it into a solution (liquid). The interviewee explained that they then concentrate the lithium in the solution to extract it. We use large tanks (evaporators) to boil the liquid and drive off the water. The steam that comes off is captured, cooled, and condensed back into water that can be reused. Approximately 50% of the water used in this process gets recycled, and it’s a closed system, which means that we can recycle a lot of the water they use. In addition, making sulfuric acid from sulfur generates a lot of heat, and we capture that heat and generate steam for the processing plant and electricity by running some of the steam through a steam turbine. The Rhyolite Ridge project is entirely off-grid and generates nearly all of its energy needs in this way. The energy from the acid plant has zero CO2 emissions.