As Ford Authority recently reported, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) officially signed off on the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project in Nevada, set to be spearheaded by a company called Ioneer – which Ford signed a deal with back in July 2022. This seemingly marked the end of a process that was held up for a while over concerns pertaining to the environmental impact of that project, but just last month, a lawsuit was filed alleging the site poses a major threat to the endangered Tiehm’s Buckwheat, a desert flower endemic to the area, which could even cause it to go extinct. Regardless, the Biden Administration just gave Ioneer another boost.
Ioneer just announced that it has finalized a $996 million dollar loan from the Biden Administration’s U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program, which will help provide a financial boost for the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project. The investment is designed to help strengthen the nation’s critical mineral supply chain by quadrupling the current domestic lithium supply, creating around 350 jobs, and rebalancing the global supply of lithium and boron production and processing currently dominated by China and Turkey.
“Rhyolite Ridge is fully permitted and construction ready. This loan demonstrates the United States’ confidence in and importance of our lithium-boron mine project. Rhyolite Ridge will not only create new jobs in Nevada but foster innovation across the country,” said Bernard Rowe, Managing Director, Ioneer. “Today’s announcement is the culmination of a rigorous and yearslong process with our federal, state, local and Tribal partners. Ioneer looks forward to bringing these urgently needed materials to market and is proud to set the new standard for modern mining operations and community engagement.”
As Ford Authority previously reported, the U.S. Department of Energy also finalized a $9.63 billion loan for the BlueOvalSK joint venture between Ford and South Korean battery manufacturer SK On, which is the largest ever to be distributed from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program. It’s higher than the aforementioned $9.2 billion dollar figure as well, and will help the joint venture finish building out its trio of plants at the pair of under-construction sites as it works to begin churning out EVs and batteries in the coming years.
Comments
Tiehms Buckwheat !? Three years to resolve ?! We have to move much faster towards our countries mineral and energy independence from global suppliers. Looking forward with much interest to the next four years.
Big loan like that at a time when most drivers prefer Hybrids. We have seen loans go belly up before with the car companies.
You do know that there are batteries (that require lithium) in hybrids too…
Only the Biden Administration can holdup such a project . May that man stay on the beach the rest of his life !
Hysterical. Biden is all about the environment as long as it doesn’t get in the way of his green new scam. You libtards really got taken for the suckers you are by the greatest huckster in US history, Joe Biden.