The Biden administration closed a $996 million federal loan Friday for a massive Nevada lithium project that has faced opposition from conservationists worried about its impact on an endangered wildflower.
The Department of Energy finalized funding for Ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge lithium boron processing plant in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The Silver Peak Range project, about 40 miles southwest of Tonopah, is expected to pump out enough lithium for nearly 370,000 electric vehicles each year.
The final loan under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program marks an increase of $268 million for Ioneer compared to the conditional commitment the department offered in January 2023.
Chad Yeftich, Ioneer’s vice president of corporate development and external affairs, said a condition of the original commitment was that the company had to refresh its financial models. And that, he said, yielded a larger loan guarantee.