Australia’s ioneer signs boric acid supply deals for flagship U.S. project

(Reuters) – Australian explorer ioneer Ltd said on Thursday it secured two agreements for the distribution and sales of boric acid from its flagship Nevada, U.S. project, sending its shares nearly 9% higher.

The company said the agreements with Southeast Asia-focused Kintamani Resources and Bangladesh-based Boron Bazar will each be valid for three years, with initial supply from its Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project expected in the second quarter of 2023.

However, the agreement is subject to a condition that ioneer makes a positive final investment decision for the project by early next year.

Boric acid is used in making various consumer and industrial products such as glass, ceramics and EV batteries.

The lithium-boron miner, which had signed a similar supply deal last year with Chinese industrial material wholesaler Dalian Jinma Boron Technology Group for the project, did not disclose financial details of the new agreements.

Kintamani will be responsible for distribution of boric acid in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, while Boron Bazar will be responsible for Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Myanmar.

Shares of the Sydney-based firm climbed as much as 8.7% to a near one-week high of A$0.125.

(Reporting by Shriya Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)