Project Traits
State: Nevada
Congressional District: NV04
Organization Type: Commercial
Partner Organization(s) Type: None or Unknown
Energy Sector: Critical Minerals,
Energy Subsector: Lithium,
Project Start Year: Unknown
Project Launch Year: Unknown
Government Support Received: Federal Loan [Department of Energy Loan Program Office] for $996,000,000
Outcomes & Impacts
Private Investment: Unknown
Jobs Announced or Created: 850
People Served: Unknown
Projected Economic Impact: Unknown
LPO on Friday afternoon finalized a $996 million loan guarantee for Ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project, a massive lithium and boron mining and processing facility in Nevada. That final commitment “upsized” the initial $700 million conditional commitment offered to Ioneer by DOE in early 2023.
LPO’s loan to the Rhyolite Ridge project will finance the on-site processing of lithium carbonate that would support production of lithium for more than370,000EVs each year. This project would reduce annual gasoline consumption by nearly 176 million gallons and prevent the release of 1.56 M tons of carbon dioxide each year. Ioneer submitted its application to LPO in October 2021.
Rhyolite Ridge will be the first lithium-boron project in the world and the second operational lithium project in the U.S. Currently, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the U.S. are entirely dependent on international mines to source lithium, and on Asian companies to process lithium into a form that can be used in EV batteries. Locating lithium production in the U.S. is critical for the growing EV market and U.S. economic and national security. LPO expects the project to further develop a socially and environmentally responsible U.S. supply chain for lithium.