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- ioneer (INR) awards DuPont Clean Technologies a contract for a planned sulphuric acid plant within its Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project in Nevada
- DuPont will work with engineering company SNC-Lavalin on the plant design and will supply its sulphuric acid technology and equipment to the plant
- Through a specific process, the plant release heat which will be recovered to produce steam for electricity to power ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge operation
- ioneer’s managing director, Bernard Rowe, says the project is a critical step to produce lithium-ion batteries for the US electric vehicle and battery market
- Company shares are up 0.77 per cent to trade at 65.5 cents
ioneer (INR) has awarded DuPont Clean Technologies a contract for its Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project in Nevada, US.
The contract is for the licence, engineering and supply of equipment for ioneer’s planned sulphuric acid plant which will convert sulphur into commercial-grade sulphuric acid used to leach lithium and boron from the crushed rock.
The heat released during this process will be recovered to produce steam for electricity and for evaporation and crystallisation processes needed to produce lithium carbonate and boric acid.
The plant will initially generate 35 megawatts of electricity which is sufficient to power the Rhyolite Ridge operation.
Essentially, ioneer won’t need to draw electricity from the grid as the project will be an energy-independent operation by using mainly co-generated, zero-carbon power.
DuPont brings over 90 years’ experience in sulphuric acid plant engineering, processes, recovering energy and environmental technologies. It has designed more than a thousand customised plants to allow producers to run efficient plants with low CAPEX and OPEX costs.
DuPont’s global business leader, Eli Ben-Shoshan, was pleased to be awarded this contract.
“We are excited to be part of a project that helps ioneer cleanly produce lithium essential to advancement of electric energy markets and to be able to support it with our many decades of expertise in sulphuric acid plant technology.”
DuPont will work with engineering company SNC-Lavalin on the plant design and will supply its MECS sulphuric acid technology and equipment to the plant.
However, the contract is conditional on ioneer’s board of directors making a final investment decision on the project.
ioneer’s managing director, Bernard Rowe, commented on the company’s plans for the project.
“Development of the Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project is a critical strategic step to enable US production of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EV) and renewable energy storage,” he said.
“ioneer’s core commitment is to produce essential materials in an environmentally and socially responsible and sustainable manner through lowered emissions, reduced water usage and a minimal surface footprint.”
Once operational, the company expects Rhyolite Ridge to produce 20,600 tonnes of lithium carbonate per annum before converting to 22,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide and 174,400 tonnes of boric acid per annum in year four.
Pending final approval from the federal US Department of the Interior, the project is expected to begin production in the second half of 2024.
Company shares were up 0.77 per cent to trade at 65.5 cents at 10:19 am AEST.
