Bit of a long thread, my webinar notes.
The webinar is only 29 minutes, worth watching.
Summary - Its all good.
"Very exciting times" .. Bernard's face disagrees - see below: )
Bernard focuses on the EIS decision's importance :
"A tremendous period for us.. 6 years since we started the permitting progress .. a tremendous achievement"
Record Of Decision appears in the bag. The next 30 days don't appear to be problematic or likely to be delayed, per Bernard :
"Now, after a final EIS is published, there is a 30 Day Agency Review period.
Itisnot another public comment period. It's just a statutory review period, and it's a minimum of 30 days, a
nd we're expecting it will be 30 days. So basically, around the last week of October is when we expect BLM to release the Federal ROD"
"...given last week's publication, we're
very, very confident around the receipt of the of a positive record of decision."
Bernard shows confidence about further
environmental challenges or legal challenges. We have worked closely with BLM on this for six years.
"We moved everything away from the area of Thames buckwheat. So we're not actually having any direct impacts. We're minimising indirect impacts. We're monitoring extensively..." we have mitigation strategies for any impacts observed.
"So you know,
we think that any kind of legal challenge is likely to be unsuccessful, and hopefully
resolve very quickly. If there is one."
I have also seen elsewhere (X) that Donnelly from the Center for Bio Diversity accepts that Pioneer will go ahead.
But I see Donnelly is quoted
aft
er the EIS was published last week as saying 'we're not backing down' :
“We’ve been fighting to save this little wildflower from extinction for more than five years,
and we’re not backing down.” (Inside Climate News, Wyatt Myskow, 21 Sep 2024, last paragraph)
PS I disagree with his characterization of "extinction" strongly . Ioneer is caring and
doing a tonne more than this conflicted virtue signalling.
The mine will be upgraded = worth more 
Bernard is expecting a
material upgrade in the mine's reserves "in the coming months" - (this year?) :
"... we haven't published a reserve since 2020, and at that time it was around 60 million tonnes. So given that we've got so many tons now in the measured and indicated categories of the total resource. We're expecting a material upgrade in the reserve
in the coming months...alongside updated updated mine plans, Capex and Opex estimates"The next steps - closing the loans - seem confident:
"Our aim is to have the DOE loan and the Sibanye deals both closed out by the end of the year, and we are very much focused on that now."
Future expansion is there and waiting when needed, and the US is going to need it
Current mining in Phase 1 of 22,00 tonnes of Lithium carbonate involved mining only 2.5 million tonnes a year. We have millions more in reserve.
"So it certainly has a lot of possibility around future growth as well. But yes, it's going to be critical to the United States domestic supply of lithium."
Not new info, but good to repeat - the
off-take agreements are secured - "Binding, bankable".
Have been extended in the past , we have ongoing discussion and very good relationships with them. Ford,
Boron makes the world of difference to this project. Boron mineralogy make processing "a whole lot easier". Economics is significant - around 30-40% of revenue, likely more in early years. 1 tonne of lithium in the early B5 ore gives 8 or 9 tonnes of Boric acid"
Very stable market, great companion to volatile Lithium, security and confidence for the Rhyolite Ridge project
The US Federal election is not seen as a risk."If there is an administration change we don't see this project slowing down at all"
Bi-partisan support for critical minerals, strong support form nth sides of politics, particularly from the Nevada delegation.
And also pushing to 'get everything done' by the end of the year - under this administration.
Interesting note on
Lithium pricing for the next few years:
"
We use a number of different 3rd parties for information that we then.you know, average and use in our own financial models. You know, and and obviously at the moment. Most of those 3rd parties are
forecasting low prices over the next few years in response to an oversupply"
"We are comfortable around that... dual revenues stream makes this a whole lot easier."
Timeline restated :
(20min delay)