Lithium from ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge project in Nevada will be supplied directly to Prime Planet Energy & Solutions, Inc. (“PPES”)
ioneer Signs Binding Lithium Offtake Agreement with Prime Planet Energy & Solutions. (Credit: Hands off my tags! Michael Gaida from Pixabay)
ioneer Ltd (“ioneer” or “the Company”) (ASX: INR, NASDAQ: IONR), an emerging lithium–boron supplier, is pleased to announce it has signed a binding offtake supply agreement (“Agreement”) with the Prime Planet Energy & Solutions (“PPES”) joint venture between Toyota Motor Corporation (“Toyota”) and Panasonic Corporation
(“Panasonic”), in which ioneer will supply PPES with lithium carbonate from its Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project (“Rhyolite Ridge”) in Nevada.
ioneer’s Executive Chairman, James Calaway, said: “ioneer is grateful to announce another key milestone for our company with a lithium carbonate offtake agreement with PPES. PPES is a world-class organisation, and we look forward to being their trusted partner. This and the previously announced Ford and EcoPro agreements solidify ioneer’s focus on the U.S. Electric Vehicle supply chain infrastructure. We look forward to providing lithium materials to PPES and all our offtake partners for their growth in the EV global market.”
PPES is a battery production company established through joint-investment between Toyota, the world’s largest automotive manufacturer by revenue, and Panasonic, a leading battery manufacturer. Under the Agreement, ioneer will deliver 4,000 tons per annum (tpa) of lithium carbonate to PPES over a 5-year term. PPES will utilise ioneer’s lithium carbonate to produce batteries for use in U.S. electric vehicles.
ioneer is expected to produce an annual average of approximately 20,600 tonnes of lithium carbonate/hydroxide along with approximately 174,400 tonnes of boric acid per year over the Rhyolite Ridge project’s 26-year life. The dual production of lithium and boric acid allows ioneer to not only produce lithium in the U.S., but to do so at the very bottom of the global cost curve. ioneer anticipates commencing production in 2025 to support urgent requirements for battery materials in the United States.
This Agreement follows the two earlier binding offtake agreements
2,3 and, in total represents the completion of pre-production lithium carbonate supply commitments it currently intends to make for Rhyolite Ridge.
Source: Company Press Release