5E Advanced Materials Reports Steady State Operations and Obtains Tax Exclusion For Lithium Capex
October 21 2024 - 7:00AM
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.
New Tax Exclusion
On October 16th, the Company entered into a
definitive agreement with the California Alternative Energy and
Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (“CAEATFA”) as part of
the Sales and Use Tax Exclusion Program (the “Program”).
California’s Department of Tax and Fee Administration administers a
use tax of 7.75% on capital equipment. Under the Program,
assistance is provided by CAEATFA such that any capital equipment
attributable to lithium carbonate production is exempt from use
tax, up to a limit of $11,473,423. The Agreement could potentially
save the Company approximately $889,000 in capital costs.
About 5E Advanced Materials, Inc.
5E Advanced Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: FEAM) (ASX:
5EA) is focused on becoming a vertically integrated global leader
and supplier of boron specialty and advanced materials,
complemented by lithium co-product production. The Company’s
mission is to become a supplier of these critical materials to
industries addressing global decarbonization, food and domestic
security. Boron and lithium products will target applications in
the fields of electric transportation, clean energy infrastructure,
such as solar and wind power, fertilizers, and domestic security.
The business strategy and objectives are to develop capabilities
ranging from upstream extraction and product sales of boric acid,
lithium carbonate and potentially other co-products, to downstream
boron advanced material processing and development. The business is
based on the Company’s large domestic boron and lithium resource,
which is located in Southern California and designated as Critical
Infrastructure by the Department of Homeland Security’s
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, as amended. All statements other than
statements of historical fact included in this press release
regarding the Company’s business strategy, plans, goals, and
objectives, including regarding the anticipated changes to the
Company’s board of directors and management and anticipated
benefits, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press
release, the words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,”
“estimate,” “intend,” “budget,” “target,” “aim,” “strategy,”
“plan,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “intent,” “may,” “should,” “could,”
“will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,”
and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain
such identifying words. These forward-looking statements are based
on the Company’s current expectations and assumptions about future
events and are based on currently available information as to the
outcome and timing of future events. We caution you that these
forward-looking statements are subject to all of the risks and
uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of
which are beyond our control, incident to the extraction of the
critical materials we intend to produce and advanced materials
production and development. These risks include, but are not
limited to: our limited operating history in the borates and
lithium industries and no revenue from our proposed extraction
operations at our properties; our need for substantial additional
financing to execute our business plan and our ability to access
capital and the financial markets; our status as an exploration
stage company dependent on a single project with no known
Regulation S-K 1300 mineral reserves and the inherent uncertainty
in estimates of mineral resources; our lack of history in mineral
production and the significant risks associated with achieving our
business strategies, including our downstream processing ambitions;
our incurrence of significant net operating losses to date and
plans to incur continued losses for the foreseeable future; risks
and uncertainties relating to the development of the Fort Cady
project, including our ability to timely and successfully complete
our proposed Commercial Scale Boron Facility; our ability to
obtain, maintain and renew required governmental permits for our
development activities, including satisfying all mandated
conditions to any such permits; the implementation of and expected
benefits from certain reduced spending measures, and other risks
and uncertainties set forth in our filings with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission from time to time. Should one or more of
these risks or uncertainties occur, or should underlying
assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results and plans could
differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking
statements. These risks are not exhaustive and the information in
this press release may be subject to additional risks. No
representation or warranty (express or implied) is made as to, and
no reliance should be place on, any information, including
projections, estimates, targets, and opinions contained herein, and
no liability whatsoever is accepted as to any errors, omissions, or
misstatements contained herein. You are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only
as to the date of this press release.
For additional information regarding these
various factors, you should carefully review the risk factors and
other disclosures in the Company’s Form 10-K filed on September 9,
2024 and subsequent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission throughout the year, as well as in its filings under the
Australian Securities Exchange. Any forward-looking statements are
given only as of the date hereof. Except as required by law, 5E
expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any such
forward-looking statements. Additionally, 5E undertakes no
obligation to comment on third party analyses or statements
regarding 5E’s actual or expected financial or operating results or
its securities.
For further information contact:
Joseph Caminiti or Nathan
SkownAlpha IR GroupFEAM@alpha-ir.com Ph: +1 (312) 445-2870 |
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