PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Lithium developer ioneer has signed a binding offtake agreement with Korea’s EcoPro Innovation, to supply lithium carbonate from the Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project, in Nevada.
Under the three-year agreement, ioneer would provide a total of 7 000 t/y of lithium carbonate, comprising an initial 2 000 t/y and an optional 5 000 t/y, subject to mutual agreement no later than the first quarter of 2022.
The offtake agreement represents up to 35% of ioneer’s planned lithium carbonate production for the first three years of production at Rhyolite Ridge.
“The agreement with EcoPro marks a significant milestone for ioneer and will be a valuable partnership,” says ioneer MD Bernard Rowe.
“It is our first lithium offtake agreement and partnering with a recognised world leader in cathode materials manufacturing is a testament to the quality of our lithium carbonate. Following a pilot plant tour in mid-2019, and detailed testing of our product samples, we are pleased that EcoPro found that our materials meet its exacting standards and determined that ioneer was the right partner to support EcoPro’s strategy for producing battery grade lithium hydroxide.”
The Rhyolite Ridge project could produce 20 600 t/y of lithium carbonate, converting in the fourth year of operation to 22 000 t/y of battery grade lithium hydroxide and 174 000 t/y of boric acid, over a mine life of 26 years.
The project is expected to require a capital investment of $785-million, with a final investment decision due late in 2021.
A final investment decision is a condition precedent of the offtake agreement.