Ioneer has announced a 308% upgrade to the ore reserve estimate for its Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project in southern Nevada. It has more than quadrupled from 60 million tonnes (Mt) in 2020 to 247 Mt, delivering a mine life of 95 years.
“Today’s updated reserve and mine plan reinforces the importance of Rhyolite Ridge’s remarkable mineralogy. Our ore reserve estimate of 247 Mt containing a total of 1.92 Mt [lithium carbonate equivalent] and 7.68 Mt [boric acid equivalent] make it the largest lithium-boron reserve in the world,” said Bernard Rowe, managing director at Ioneer.
“It allows Ioneer to match prevailing market conditions and blend or prioritize ore to produce a valuable boric acid co-product, whose market is uncorrelated with the project’s primary lithium product. No other lithium project offers this level of flexibility and economic advantage. In periods of low cycle lithium pricing, like today, we plan to prioritize the high-boron ore production to optimize the relative proportion of total revenue derived from boric acid.”
By prioritizing high-boron (ore in the first 25 years of production, Rhyolite Ridge is poised to produce an average of 19,200 tonnes per annum of lithium carbonate equivalent, and 116,400 tpa of boric acid.
Ioneer now estimates total capital expenditure to complete Rhyolite Ridge will be $1,667.9 million, including a 10% contingency. The mine is poised to extract and process 2.6 Mt of ore per year.
Source: Ioneer