Rhyolite Ridge on-site lithium processing facilities
Esmeralda County, Nevada
prj-us-rhyolite-ridge-processing
What does the record establish?
DOE-guaranteed finance supports on-site lithium processing and ancillary sulfuric-acid/support facilities, not open-pit mining. The broader Rhyolite Ridge project co-produces boron, which is not tracked as a material in this SMPT registry and receives no distinct allocated dollar amount here. As of 30 June 2026, issuer states no development or production activity this quarter, and FID/construction not yet achieved. Ioneer Ltd is the separately registered Australian-listed corporate developer; the loan guarantee names the U.S. project entity as direct recipient, not the parent.
Financial standing
1 directly linked instruments. Recorded financial states: Contracted. A commitment, a payment and a project cost remain separate.
Inspect instruments and termsLegal and policy context
1 parent policy records; 0 project designations. Designation confers standing, not finance. Material and stage overlaps with controls do not establish a restriction on this project.
Read the policy recordsIndustrial evidence
No source-reviewed project milestone is published in this corpus. Financing records may still contain attributed activity reports; this gap does not establish inactivity.
See evidence gapsFinancial evidence and chronology
Each instrument keeps its own financial history. These dates describe financial states, not construction or production. Amounts are the current recorded terms, not historical amounts at every date below.
Loan guarantee · U.S. Department of Energy, Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program$996 million loan guarantee ($968 million principal plus $28 million capitalized interest) · Contracted · Commitment
- Provider organizations
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Recipient
- Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge LLCIoneer Rhyolite Ridge LLC
- Legal authority as stated
- Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Section 136 — Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program
· Contracted
DOE's 17 January 2025 announcement expressly reports closing the $996M ATVM loan guarantee to Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge LLC. Funding is subject to conditions precedent; no positive advance evidence in reviewed June–August 2026 issuer filings. The 2023 conditional loan is not a second count.
U.S. Department of Energy, Loan Programs Office
No additional structured terms are recorded. See the full instrument for its evidence and qualifications.
ONE closed ATVM loan guarantee: $996M total = $968M principal + $28M capitalized interest; neither component is a second amount. January 2023 conditional commitment was revised and replaced at closing, not additive. As of latest reviewed issuer disclosures (June-quarter activities July 30, half-year accounts August 13, 2026), no primary source positively establishes a first federal advance; preserve contracted, do not classify as partially disbursed or assert conclusively that no draw has ever happened. Reported $4.273M establishment fees are costs paid by Ioneer, NOT DOE disbursement. First draw conditions include strategic partner equity, additional funds and revised financial model. Sibanye-Stillwater did not proceed with proposed project equity in February 2025; 2026 KIND/Hyundai understandings remained nonbinding. DOE's early NEPA summary names proposed Rhyolite Ridge Holdings LLC but the 17 Jan 2025 closing names Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge LLC; these are not assumed equivalent. Processing facilities only: federal guarantee does not finance open-pit mine construction or separately fund the untracked boron co-product, and permits and feasibility are not physical construction.
Full financial instrument, conditions and field-level evidenceCapital stack
One layer per value role. Only committed public money, and joint-vehicle money apart from it, is summed, per currency; everything else is listed. There is no total across layers.
Public commitments
1 row · summed per currencyCommitted to a recipient by a government or public enterprise, at the status each row states. A contracted, partially disbursed or disbursed row is binding because an agreement is executed; payment is tracked separately by status. A contracted row need not mean funds are obligated or paid, and a partially disbursed row is not fully paid. Summed per currency and per instrument, never across either; a part is never added to its package.
USD
Loan guarantee1 row
Binding
- Stated exactly
- 996 million
1 counted
Source-reviewed industrial observations
No source-reviewed project milestone is published for this undertaking. Any financing-row activity reports below remain attributed observations, not independently reviewed project milestones. Missing evidence does not establish inactivity.
Policy context
These records directly parent the project's finance or designation entries. Their presence does not establish a causal effect on industrial activity.
17 Jan 2025 · Active
DOE closes $996 million loan guarantee for Rhyolite Ridge lithium processing
U.S. Department of Energy, Loan Programs Office
U.S. Department of Energy, Loan Programs OfficeU.S. Department of Energy, NEPAIoneer Ltd / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)Ioneer Ltd / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)Ioneer Ltd / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)Ioneer Ltd / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)
Control clauses on the same materials and stages
Clauses whose covered items share a material and a supply-chain stage with this project, with their legal status on 3 Nov 2026. An overlap of items, not a finding that the project is affected.
No coded control clause covers items at this project's materials and stages.
Record
- Sponsors
- Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge LLCCompanyIoneer LtdCompany
- Location
- Esmeralda County, NevadaUS
- Stages
- Processing
- Materials
- LithiumAlso names: boronIncludes untracked materials
- Programmes
- None recorded
- Latest financing-row activity report
- FeasibilityDate not statedIoneer Ltd / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)
What remains unknown
Gaps describe the available SMPT record. They do not establish that an activity did not occur.
- No project-native source-reviewed industrial milestone is published. Attributed activity in financing histories remains a separate evidence class; no exact milestone date or facility-wide conclusion is inferred.
- Historical amount review is incomplete. Current amounts cannot be read as a time series of earlier commitments.
- Structural links and shared materials do not demonstrate that a government measure caused an industrial outcome.
Evidence
Every project fact names the source that states it.
DOE closes $996 million loan guarantee for Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge
U.S. Department of Energy, Loan Programs Office
- Fields supported
- Name · Sponsors · Location · Supply-chain stages · Materials
- Evidence level
- Explicit
- Location in document
- Paragraphs 1–2: named project recipient, lithium-carbonate processing and Nevada site
- Qualification
- Named project is integrated lithium-boron mine but financed portion is the on-site lithium processing plant and related infrastructure.
DOE/EIS-0565 — Rhyolite Ridge mine processing loan scope
U.S. Department of Energy, NEPA
- Fields supported
- Name · Location · Supply-chain stages · Materials
- Evidence level
- Explicit
- Location in document
- Project summary paragraphs 1–2, DOE/EIS-0565
- Qualification
- Loan financing scope includes lithium processing plant, sulfuric-acid unit and associated infrastructure, specifically excluding open-pit mine.
Ioneer 30 July 2026 Quarterly Activities Report — Rhyolite Ridge remains pre-FID
Ioneer Ltd / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR)
- Fields supported
- Sponsors · Supply-chain stages · Materials
- Evidence level
- Explicit
- Location in document
- June 2026 Quarterly Activities, project description and Engineering section
- Qualification
- Pre-FID engineering for lithium-carbonate circuit; boron is a separate co-product of the wider Rhyolite Ridge venture, not allocated a known slice of the DOE guarantee.
| Source | Fields supported | Evidence level | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| DOE closes $996 million loan guarantee for Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge U.S. Department of Energy, Loan Programs Office · Source dossier |
| Explicit Named project is integrated lithium-boron mine but financed portion is the on-site lithium processing plant and related infrastructure. | Paragraphs 1–2: named project recipient, lithium-carbonate processing and Nevada site |
| DOE/EIS-0565 — Rhyolite Ridge mine processing loan scope U.S. Department of Energy, NEPA · Source dossier |
| Explicit Loan financing scope includes lithium processing plant, sulfuric-acid unit and associated infrastructure, specifically excluding open-pit mine. | Project summary paragraphs 1–2, DOE/EIS-0565 |
| Ioneer 30 July 2026 Quarterly Activities Report — Rhyolite Ridge remains pre-FID Ioneer Ltd / U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · Source dossier |
| Explicit Pre-FID engineering for lithium-carbonate circuit; boron is a separate co-product of the wider Rhyolite Ridge venture, not allocated a known slice of the DOE guarantee. | June 2026 Quarterly Activities, project description and Engineering section |
For citations, open a parent policy record for BibTeX, RIS and CSL formats. Cite original documents for claims about government action.
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