Highlights:
· EcoPro Group, a major cathode supplier for global battery manufacturers, has agreed to increase its offtake volume with ioneer to 7,000 tpa, the maximum amount under the June 2021 binding agreement.
· The increase is in response to EcoPro Group’s plans to significantly increase cathode material production.
· The total contracted volume represents 34% of ioneer’s annual lithium carbonate output for the first three years of production.
ioneer Ltd (“ioneer” or the “Company”) (ASX: INR), an emerging lithium–boron supplier, today announced that EcoPro Innovation Co Ltd (“EcoPro”), part of the EcoPro Group of Companies, has exercised an additional 5,000 tpa of lithium carbonate offtake as detailed in the original binding lithium offtake supply agreement (“Agreement”) announced June 30, 2021. EcoPro Innovation has confirmed an increase to the initial 2,000 tpa annual volume in the Agreement to 7,000 tpa.
ioneer will supply EcoPro Innovation with lithium carbonate from its Rhyolite Ridge Lithium- Boron Project (“Rhyolite Ridge”) in Nevada. The Agreement remains conditional on ioneer taking a Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Rhyolite Ridge Project.
The increased total offtake represents approximately 34% of ioneer’s annual lithium carbonate production from Rhyolite Ridge in the first three years of operation.
EcoPro Innovation expects to convert ioneer’s lithium carbonate into high purity lithium hydroxide at its recently complete integrated cathode plant in Korea.
ioneer Managing Director, Bernard Rowe, said:
“We are delighted that EcoPro Innovation has increased their lithium carbonate offtake commitment from Rhyolite Ridge. As a major cathode supplier for global battery manufacturers EcoPro Group is an ideal partner for ioneer. We are encouraged to support the US car manufacturing industry and look forward to continuing to work with EcoPro Group in these endeavors.”
EcoPro Innovation President Anthony Kim, said:
“We have always had a great relationship with ioneer and we are pleased to strengthen our partnership with ioneer by increasing lithium carbonate offtake volume. We, EcoPro as a group, have intentions to expand overseas to support environmental policies such as carbon neutralization and net zero emission. With ioneer as a partner, we look forward to contributing to the electrification of transportation in the USA.”
ioneer is expected to produce an annual average of approximately 20,600 tonnes of lithium carbonate, or approximately 22,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide, along with approximately 174,400 tonnes of boric acid per year over the 26-year mine life. The dual production of lithium and boric acid allows ioneer to not only produce lithium in the US, but to do so at the very bottom of the global cost curve. ioneer anticipates commencing production in late 2024.
Key terms of the Agreement with EcoPro include:
· Product: Lithium carbonate
· Contract Duration: 3 Years
· Volume: 7,000 tonnes per annum
· Price Term: CIF Busan, Korea.
· Price: Adjusted quarterly based on agreed price formula.
· Currency: USD per metric ton
· Condition Precedent: ioneer’s Final Investment Decision
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ABOUT IONEER
ioneer Ltd is the 100% owner of the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project located in Nevada, USA, the only known lithium-boron deposit in North America and one of only two known such deposits in the world. The Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) completed in 2020 confirmed Rhyolite Ridge as a world-class lithium and boron project that is expected to become a globally significant, long-life, low-cost source of lithium and boron vital to a sustainable future. In September 2021, ioneer entered a 50/50 joint venture agreement with Sibanye Stillwater Ltd to advance the Rhyolite Ridge project. ioneer will be the operator of the Project, which is expected to come onstream in 2024.
ABOUT ECOPRO INNOVATION CO. LTD
EcoPro Innovation Co Ltd is a subsidiary of The EcoPro Co., Ltd Group of Companies which include EcoPro BM, EcoPro Gem and EcoPro Innovation. EcoPro Group specializes in lithium-ion batteries and environmental business. EcoPro Innovation has secured a value chain for lithium cells by developing, manufacturing and processing technologies for lithium compounds, which is a core material of lithium cells.