Latest news with #Ioneer
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ioneer begins strategic search for partner in US lithium-boron project
Ioneer has initiated the formal strategic partnering process to identify an equity partner to expedite the development and production commencement of its Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project in the US state of Nevada. The decision follows the completion of significant milestones, including an ore reserve upgrade and updated project economics. Goldman Sachs is providing financial advisory services to assist Ioneer throughout this process, which is anticipated to last a minimum of four months. The Rhyolite Ridge project stands out in the global lithium and boron markets owing to its unique lithium-boron deposit. It facilitates the production of high-purity chemicals directly at the mine site. The project has dual revenue streams, with lithium accounting for 75% and boron for the remaining 25%. It also features strong project economics, with all-in sustaining costs projected to be in the lowest quartile of the global lithium cost curve. Rhyolite Ridge also benefits from being a permitted, large mineral resource and ore reserve. The project has garnered substantial support from both public and private sectors and is considered shovel-ready with a Class 2 capital cost estimate and 70% of engineering completed. Adding to its financial readiness, Ioneer has secured a $996m loan from the US Department of Energy Loan Programs Office. The loan includes capitalised interest during construction of $28m and conditions to the first draw. This financial backing is complemented by existing lithium and boron offtake agreements with partners, positioning the project for expansion. In June 2025, Ioneer received firm commitments to raise $16m through a placement of new shares to advance the Rhyolite Ridge project. "Ioneer begins strategic search for partner in US lithium-boron project" was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ioneer raises $16m to advance Rhyolite Ridge lithium project towards FID
Ioneer has received firm commitments to raise approximately $16m through a placement of new shares aimed at advancing its Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project in Nevada, US. The funds will be used to move the project through the strategic partnering process and towards a final investment decision (FID). The placement was met with strong support from both new and existing shareholders. The company will issue approximately 253 million new fully paid ordinary shares at an offer price of A$0.10 per share, a 13% discount to Ioneer's last close on 10 June 2025. The placement is set to provide necessary capital for project readiness, environmental and permitting expenses, and other associated costs, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes. The new shares issued will rank equally with the existing ordinary shares of Ioneer. Canaccord Genuity acted as the lead manager and bookrunner, with Stifel Nicolaus Europe and Bridge Street Capital Partners serving as co-lead manager and co-manager, respectively. Ioneer executive chair James Calaway said: 'Rhyolite Ridge continues to demonstrate it is a world-leading lithium project, helping accelerate the electric vehicle transition and securing a cleaner future for our children and grandchildren. This placement represents another step forward towards ensuring this world-class project operates efficiently and sustainably.' In addition to the placement, Ioneer is offering a share purchase plan (SPP) to eligible shareholders, aiming to raise up to an additional $3.3m at the same price as the placement. The SPP will offer eligible shareholders the chance to increase their holdings by the maximum permitted amount of A$30,000 per application, without any brokerage, commission or transaction fees. Ioneer managing director Bernard Rowe said: 'Ioneer is pleased to announce the successful completion of the placement with strong engagement from new and existing investors, signalling market confidence [in] the Rhyolite Ridge Project despite significant headwinds in the lithium market.' This move comes after the announcement in February that South African miner Sibanye-Stillwater would exit the joint venture with Ioneer for the Rhyolite Ridge project following a significant drop in lithium prices. "Ioneer raises $16m to advance Rhyolite Ridge lithium project towards FID" was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
AU Financial Review
11-06-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Lithium miner Ioneer launches $25m capital raising
Australian lithium miner Ioneer is back in front of investors with a capital raising. Ioneer's Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘It's not a smash-and-grab': Tiny town of Dyer, Nevada, debates lithium mine's impact
DYER, Nevada (KLAS) — It's the biggest town in Nevada's poorest, least-populated county. But things could start to change soon in the farming community of Dyer in Fish Lake Valley. Australian mining company Ioneer is nearing construction on its Rhyolite Ridge lithium project, expected to bring 500 construction jobs and 300-350 permanent jobs later when operations begin, estimated in 2028. An agreement between Esmeralda County and Ioneer will jump-start that process, with the company funding positions for three sheriff's deputies, six emergency services staffers and a grant writer. It will pay for a new fire truck, an ambulance and other vehicles. It also provides for a $900,000 emergency services building, as well as equipment for the emergency crew. In total, it will bring $5-$7 million in benefits before the mine goes into operation. 'We're not talking about state tax abatement,' Mark Hartman told 8 News Now in an interview in early May. He has lived in the valley since 1972 and now he's growing wine grapes . 'We're talking about real improvements for the poorest county in Nevada. There are 700 people that live here. You know, 300-plus live in Fish Lake Valley. The county seat has less. Silver Peak has even fewer,' Hartman said. Rhyolite Ridge lithium deposit not like the others: Tour shows Nevada mine site A study commissioned by Ioneer estimates when the mine is producing, it will generate around $8.5 million a year in taxes for the county, more than doubling the current county budget that's around $6 million. During a tour for 8 News Now last month, Ioneer's managing director, Bernard Rowe, said the mine could operate for 100 years depending on how it's operated. In the past week, updated financials from Ioneer show that's possible, and the lithium-boron deposit is richer than previously revealed. Residents know Ioneer officials because the company has been holding community meetings for six or seven years, Rowe said. 'Over time, he has been here. He has been listening to us,' Hartman said about Rowe. 'It's not a smash-and-grab,' Hartman said. 'What he's found is a multigenerational deposit. So this is two, three times … this becomes Michigan building cars back in the day, you know, when Ford first talked about the assembly line,' Hartman said. Some residents are more skeptical. They're not happy about anything that adds traffic on the roads. Others fear that Ioneer will sell out to a partner. And water is on everybody's minds. Matt Johnson, a Fish Lake Valley farmer who runs Johnson's Feed and Farm Supply with his wife, grows alfalfa and orchard grass, and he runs some cattle on his property. 'It feels like salesmanship,' he said. 'We're already in a designated basin where we have a declining water table every year,' Johnson said. He said there are concerns that taking water for the mine could be detrimental to groundwater levels. Johnson serves as vice-chairman of the Esmeralda Conservation District, an agency that deals with wells and water management. Ioneer came into the picture long after groundwater dropped in the valley, but Rowe understands the concern. When the U.S. Bureau of Land Management asked Ioneer if it would consider doing a groundwater study as part of the approval process for the mine, the company agreed. Rowe called it a massive undertaking. The study found the water table has dropped several hundred feet over the past 50 to 60 years, Rowe said. The analysis found that the southern end of the valley is actually a separate water table, and that water moves from the south to the north. He said the study showed the water table at the northern end of the valley had only dropped 5 feet at a site where one measurement was taken, the turnoff to the mine site just north of Dyer. 'We could pump any amount of water at Rhyolite Ridge, and it wouldn't affect the valley,' Rowe said. Ioneer isn't taking any risks, and has purchased water rights in the valley that it will leverage against water use at the mine. 'Flagrant violation': Lawsuit disputes US approval of Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine in Nevada A 'pivot' is a well that is at the center of an irrigated circle that you might see in aerial views of rural Nevada farms. Ioneer has produced the water rights for six existing pivots in Fish Lake Valley. Agriculture is continuing at those sites until Ioneer determines it needs additional water, an Ioneer spokesperson said. 'Instead of irrigating six pivots down here, we will take that water, we will turn off those six pivots, and we'll take that water and use it up at the mine,' Rowe said. That would be a gradual process — not just an abrupt shutoff that could cause dust problems, he said. US agency review says Nevada lithium mine can co-exist with endangered flower Johnson acknowledged that Ioneer had every right to pump groundwater after purchasing water rights. 'It has a legal path forward,' he said. 'We had very lengthy discussions about water,' Ralph Keys, a former Esmeralda County commissioner, said. 'The county will always have the right to protest any change in water use in the basin and the county as a whole.' He noted that the water rights in the basin are fully allocated. 'The basin is closed and there are no additional water rights available,' he said. Keys helped craft the Ioneer-Esmeralda County agreement before he left the commission after three terms in 2024. 'The county depends on the agricultural industry for a large consistent tax base. Farming has been a stable industry in Esmeralda County for over 100 years. I cannot say that about mining,' Keys said. He's from a family that has been farming in Fish Lake Valley since the early 1970s. 'Hopefully, the Ioneer project will be around for 50-plus years. The boom-and-bust cycle of mining in Nevada is evident. Look at all of the old ghost towns around Nevada,' Keys said. Goldfield, the biggest city in Nevada from 1903 to 1910 (pop. 20,000) during a gold mining boom, is evidence of his concern. The Esmeralda County seat is now home to about 200 people. 'As a commissioner when Ioneer came to town I saw the need to stress the fact that we did not have the necessary EMS to support such a large mining operation,' he said. 'Public safety became the number one concern of mine.' In Dyer, the nearest hospital is 90 miles away in Bishop, California. Keys put a priority on parts of the agreement that dealt with safety. Keys and Ioneer's Chad Yeftich, vice president for corporate development and external affairs, both emphasized the importance of benefits included in the gap between now and when the mine becomes profitable. Without the agreement, Esmeralda County doesn't have the resources to provide emergency services and additional law enforcement needed as the population grows and activity picks up. Training will be needed before shipments of lithium and boric acid go on area roads. Ioneer is also footing the bill for improvements to the county road that leads to Rhyolite Ridge. Another element of the agreement surrounds the possibility that the county could find grants to help cover the costs of additional expenses related to growth and the costs associated with the mine. Ioneer is funding the cost of a grant writer. If grant money is secured, half the money would go directly to the county for needs associated with drilling deeper wells or rehabilitation of wells. Johnson said he's concerned that the agreement is completely voluntary and includes language that Ioneer can use to get out from under it. He has lived in the valley on-and-off since 1976, and views the situation as favoritism. 'I'm not 'anti-the-project' enough to go to all their meetings,' Johnson said. Concerns about water go beyond farming. In May, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed protections for the Fish Lake Valley tui chub, a small fish that lives in a spring on a private ranch in the northern end of the valley. If the tui chub is protected under the Endangered Species Act, it could complicate an already complex water picture. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Rare Nevada fish in dwindling spring could get Endangered Species Act tag
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday proposed protecting a rare fish found near the Nevada-California border, where groundwater levels have dropped as alfalfa farming thrives. 'The Fish Lake Valley tui chub is barely clinging to existence,' according to Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity. A petition and litigation by the conservation group could help save the fish after years of declining groundwater has reduced its habitat to a single spring on a private ranch in Esmeralda County. The fish has been introduced into another pond elsewhere as part of efforts to save the species. Donnelly hailed it as 'the first species proposed for Endangered Act protections by Trump.' He clarifies, the first in Trump's second term. Pumping for agriculture in Fish Lake Valley vastly exceeds the natural recharge to the aquifer, resulting in plummeting groundwater levels across the valley, according to a Center for Biological Diversity news release. According to the group, tui chubs used to live in a half dozen springs, all but one of which dried up due to the aquifer collapse. Flow at the one remaining spring has been documented to have declined by more than 50%. 'Nevada has already lost so many native fish species. We can't afford any more extinction,' Donnelly said. The group cites a looming threat to further drops in groundwater as Ioneer prepares to begin lithium mining operations in 2028 in the hills near the private ranch where the lone spring remains. Donnelly calls Rhyolite Ridge 'the extinction mine' because of threats to the tui chub and a wildflower known as Tiehm's buckwheat, which is already listed as endangered. 'Looming mining and energy projects threaten to worsen the problems in the aquifer,' according to the group's news release. 'The Fish and Wildlife Service specifically cited threats from the proposed Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine as a reason for protecting the tui chub. The Center has sued to stop the mine from moving forward because it poses severe threats to biodiversity and cultural resources.' That lawsuit targets the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which approved the lithium mine in October. Officials from Ioneer have said they are confident their project poses no additional threat to the Fish Lake Valley tui chub. They have taken the step of buying water rights in the valley, with plans to ramp down agriculture as they need to use water for the mine. 'Ahead of construction and development following anticipated approval of the federal permitting process in October 2024, Ioneer secured water rights from local agricultural users for construction and operations,' according to a company statement to 8 News Now last week. 'In December 2023, Ioneer received permits from the Nevada Division of Water Resources (NDWR) to transfer existing water rights for use at our site during the construction phase.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
