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ReGIonAL RoUnDUP

Biden a big win for US-based Aussies

he US is set to re-emerge as a leader administration which enacted rigorous en- develop a 2.5 mtpa mining and processing
Tin the adoption of electric vehicles, ac- vironmental regulations that slowed the operation at Rhyolite Ridge in Nevada, with
cording to Texas-based ioneer Ltd chairman growth of the US mining sector. first production set for 2023.
James Calaway, following Joe Biden’s stun- Biden was vice-president to Barrick Oba- “The US is the second biggest car mar-
ning win in the recent presidential election. ma during the latter’s time in office and is ket in the world, it produces 20 million cars
Biden will officially enter the White House well-regarded in conservation circles, but is a year, and if you just simply said ‘if all of
on January 20, pending no further legal pro- also believed to be supportive of domestic those were electric’, how much lithium is that
tests from the ousted Trump administration, production of metals such as lithium which based on today’s consumption, and the an-
and has promised to get straight to work on are needed for EVs, solar panels and other swer is 1.2mt at about 60kg per car,” he said.
his “build, back, better” economic recovery products crucial to his climate plan. “It’s going to take some time to get to that
plan. “One of the things that we’re hopeful for level, obviously, but if you just take a quar-
Calaway said a critical component of is that they will understand that having op- ter of that total US market, which I think is
Biden’s campaign was to rebuild the econ- position to mining and production of hydro- the mark most people are thinking will be
omy “in accordance with a sustainable fu- carbons is one thing, but having an opposi- reached later this decade, then that’s in the
ture” whereby the US would resume being tion to the production of the critical materials order of 300,000-400,000t of lithium chemi-
a world leader, not a lagger, in dealing with necessary for this transition is another,” cal, just for the US and a quarter of their
climate change. Calaway said. vehicle fleet. And that’s just the light vehicle
“How are they going to do that? Well, “You have to draw that distinction, that you fleet.
they’re going to do it in the retail end by ex- can’t be acting as if all mining, all oil and gas “You can debate when it actually hap-
tending tax credits for people buying cars production, etc is all equivalent. Some of it pens, but there’s no question it is happening
that are electric and they’re going to provide is vital to the future and some of it may be in and certainly what I’m seeing in an Austral-
all kinds of incentives and direct support for fact detrimental to a sustainable future. I do ian context is an increasing awareness of
massive industries in charging infrastructure think they are starting to make that distinc- that and a fundamental increasing interest
in the US,” Calaway told Paydirt. tion and I think that we’ll all benefit from that.” in lithium companies like ioneer from the
Calaway, the former chairman of lithium Sydney-based ioneer managing direc- investment community, both retail and insti-
producer Orocobre Ltd, was also hopeful tor Bernard Rowe said the electrification of tutional.
the incoming Biden administration would be more vehicles in the US would be a major “We’ve just gone through a period of de-
more supportive of mining than the Obama boost for his company, which is looking to clining prices for three years in lithium and
it was very difficult to get any traction with
institutional investors in Australia during that
time period, but that’s noticeably changing
now.”
Over the next 12 months, ioneer hopes
to finalise engineering studies on Rhyolite
Ridge, lock away project financing arrange-
ments and have all environmental permits in
place for a final investment decision.
– Michael Washbourne

Rhyolite Ridge in Nevada is the most advanced lithium project in the US

ASX-listed lithium hopefuls ioneer Ltd and Piedmont future supply of spodumene concentrate from its namesake lithium
Lithium Ltd have joined the likes of Tesla Inc and Albe- project in North Carolina.
marle Corp as founding members of the Zero Emission The agreement for 160,000 tpa – about one-third of Piedmont’s
Transportation Association (ZETA) which is advocating proposed production – is for an initial five years on a fixed-price
for 100% electric vehicle sales in the US by 2030. binding purchase commitment from the delivery of first product. A
second five-year term may be executed by mutual agreement.
ZETA is the first coalition of its kind in the US, bringing together
industry leaders, advocates and non-governmental organisations “We are excited to be working with Tesla, which represents the
across the transportation, clean energy and technology sectors to start of the first US domestic lithium supply chain and a disruption
drive policy changes that accelerate EV adoption. to the current value chain,” Piedmont president and chief executive
Kevin Phillips said.
“We view a global shift to electric vehicles as central to our mis-
sion,” ioneer managing director Bernard Rowe said. “As the most “We will now accelerate our mine/concentrator development to
developed lithium project in the US, not only are we excited to be support Tesla’s plans, work to further expand our mineral re-
working closely with fellow leaders across the automotive sup- sources, and potentially increase our planned annual spodumene
ply chain, we understand the importance of ensuring US national production capacity.”
policy supports a greener future.” Piedmont announced a $US50 million ($70.6 million) capital raising
For Piedmont, admission to ZETA comes on the back of the in late October to complete a DFS as well as finalise test work and
company entering into a binding agreement with Tesla for the permitting for the project.

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