The United States of America is officially bringing a new lithium mine into production.
What’s happening:
- Ioneer (NASDAQ: IONR) has been granted official approval for their Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron mine in Nevada from the United States Bureau of Land Management
By the numbers:
- The Rhyolite Ridge mine is anticipated to be able to produce enough lithium carbonate for the production of 370,000 new electric vehicles annually
Why it matters:
- This is the first lithium project in the United States of America to win an approval to begin full scale production as a mine under the current presidential administration
Going deeper:
- Ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine is now expected to be one of the largest producing mines for lithium carbonate in the United States, alongside of Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) and Lithium Americas (NYSE: LAC)
- Publicly traded lithium companies have been experiencing a renewed excitement recently, following Rio Tinto’s (NYSE: RIO) multi billion dollar buyout offer for Arcadium Lithium (NYSE: ALTM) and a flurry of fresh government funding for promising lithium projects across North America
Market reaction:
- Shares of Ioneer were up +15% following the announcement
