Economic Impacts of Rhyolite Ridge

We expect that the Project will generate 300-350 long-term jobs in the community, becoming the largest employer and taxpayer in Esmeralda County. Tax revenues will help to provide resources and services for its citizens.

Please share how the project may impact your family, your business, or your community from an economic standpoint.

For example:

• I may be able to expand my business and hire more employees.
• I support the Project as I have gotten to know and have worked with Ioneer for many years, and we are confident they will continue to be a good neighbor once Rhyolite Ridge is in operation.
• I currently live in the community but commute outside of the county regularly for work – having the ability to work locally would be a benefit to me and my family.
• The Rhyolite Ridge project will provide family-supporting job opportunities in our rural community.

Environmentally Sensitive Operation

The unique mineralogy at Rhyolite Ridge will allow for the production of lithium with significantly less water usage compared to existing U.S. production due to extensive recycling, and the project will not need to utilize leach pads or require tailings dams.

The Project will not put any increased demand on the local electric grid, due to its ability to cogenerate electricity as a function of the manufacturing process.

Ioneer has expended considerable resources and are committed to doing so in the future to study, protect, conserve and uplift Tiehm’s buckwheat.

For Example:

• The Rhyolite Ridge Project’s unique mineralogy allows for a small quarry footprint and requires no evaporation ponds which limit its impact on the area’s visual aesthetics.
• As an agricultural community in the rural desert, water usage is always an important consideration – the project’s projected limited water use will still allow for ample ranching and farming to continue in Fish Lake Valley.
• Ioneer has listened to feedback from water experts including local agricultural irrigators and has designed their process in a manner that ensures that they have no impact on the water balance in Fish Lake Valley.
• The information in the Draft EIS shows that Ioneer has actively engaged with the BLM and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and other stakeholders, to revise its plan to eliminate direct impacts and minimize indirect impacts to Tiehm’s buckwheat and habitat.
• To ensure appropriate evaluation of potential impacts to cultural resources and sites, the BLM worked closely with the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe, Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, Yomba Shoshone Tribe, Bishop Paiute Tribe, Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley, Benton (Utu Utu Gwaitu) Paiute Tribe, Ely Shoshone Tribe, Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone, and Shoshone-Paiute of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation.

Domestic Supply of Strategic Minerals

Once Rhyolite Ridge is in operation, it will be only the second operating lithium source in the U.S. and will increase domestic production by approximately 400%.

For Example:

• For national security and economic growth, it’s important for Nevada and the United States to responsibly develop our natural resources instead of relying on other countries.
• Domestic lithium production is essential for a U.S. electric vehicle supply chain where local resources and innovation can help Nevada, and the United States, be a leader in the new energy economy.
  
• The production of lithium locally will help to generate jobs in all corners of Nevada, from rural areas to urban.
• Lithium and boron are crucial to national defense and it’s imperative that we have a secure and domestic supply of these materials.