5E Advanced Materials Reports Steady State Operations and Obtains Tax Exclusion For Lithium Capex

In This Article:

5E Advanced Materials, Inc.
5E Advanced Materials, Inc.

Progress in plant-level operations aligns with recent momentum in commercial strategy and offtake discussions

HESPERIA, Calif., Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 5E Advanced Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: FEAM) (ASX: 5EA) (“5E” or the “Company”), a boron and lithium company with U.S. government Critical Infrastructure designation for its 5E Boron Americas Complex, is pleased to report positive progress at the Company’s Small-Scale Facility (“SSF”).

Highlights:

  • Operational focus and rigor at the 5E Boron Americas complex have improved production rates, overall product quality, and consistency

  • Improved operating rates have driven an increase in calcium content, expanding 5E’s commercial optionality regarding byproduct marketing

  • Entered into a definitive agreement with the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority regarding a tax assistance program for capital equipment related to the production of lithium carbonate, with savings potential of nearly $900,000

Paul Weibel, Chief Executive Officer of 5E Advanced Materials, commented, “We are increasingly encouraged by the improvements to our operational performance as we continue to see positive progress at the plant level with solid data points across both our production rates and product quality. We have overcome initial maintenance headwinds and early-stage growing pains, as our operations team has developed innovative solutions to work through challenges and continuously improve processes. The positive progress at the facility plays well alongside the expanding level of discussions we are having with various potential customers as we look to enter offtake commitments and advance 5E’s commercial strategy.”

Operations Update

Production rates at the Company’s 5E Boron Americas Complex have steadied and are currently maintained at one short ton per day with continuous improvement at the facility. The operations team has successfully programmed crystallization to operate in automatic mode such that distillation occurs based on feed concentration, improving both boric acid consistency and quality. Recently, the facility’s belt filter spray nozzle systems were optimized to maintain sulfur content below 100 ppm, exceeding customer specifications.

The Company expects to begin removing metal salts and producing gypsum in the near term as calcium levels and metal salts have lagged boric acid leach rates. Calcium content has now increased to greater than 20,000 ppm, necessitating the production of a calcium-based by-product. As the Company assesses operating expenses and commercial scale engineering, the recovery solution after removing the calcium is expected to reinforce the confidence levels of solution feed profiles that inform raw material utilizations that drive OPEX. The Company continues to evaluate calcium chloride as a potential byproduct and has tested and produced highly concentrated samples (38% Ca) of solution that are representative of what could be produced on a commercial scale.