The US has approved construction of a massive new lithium mine in Nevada and extended tax breaks to some miners as part of its strategy to break Chinese dominance over the supply chains of critical minerals.
Australian producer Ioneer on Thursday said it had received a federal permit for its Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron mine, a project that could produce enough lithium to power about 370,000 electric vehicles a year. The silvery-white metal is an essential ingredient in the production of rechargeable batteries and critical to the future of the EV industry.
Rhyolite Ridge is the first approval of a lithium mine by the Joe Biden administration, which has offered Ioneer a $700mn loan to help build a project that would quadruple US lithium production when completed in 2028. Since 2002, only three US mines have come online for critical minerals, none of which are located on public land.