Company provides comprehensive update on positive developments in operational scope and engineering, driving enhanced project economics
Company further details insights and potential funding pathway from recent meeting with the EXIM Bank in Washington, D.C.
HESPERIA, CA / ACCESS Newswire / March 6, 2025 / 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 (Fort Cady) Complex is pleased to provide preliminary economic ranges of its permitted, in-situ boron mining project in California. As the Company nears the completion of its first phase of commercial engineering, updated analysis indicates that the project is now expected to deliver stronger Phase 1 economics than previously forecasted while maintaining additional optionality for advanced materials production.
Forecasted Project Economic Highlights:
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Phase 1 Production: 77,000 short tons of B2O3 (136,500 tons of H3BO3)[1]
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Targeted Capital Expenditure: USD $390 - $430 million
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Phase I Pre-tax Project IRR (Unlevered): 18% - 22%
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Project NPV7: $650 - $715 million
Engineering Progress and Capital Assessments
Over the past two months, the Company has received initial capital estimates from its EPC firm, incorporated additional learnings and opportunities from operation of the Company's Small-Scale Facility, delivered wellfield data that translates to a higher head grade, and optimized its plot plan. The Company believes these updates now support the view that the associated economic highlights can be incorporated to deliver a pre-feasibility report with a robust final economic analysis in May 2025.
Paul Weibel, Chief Executive Officer of 5E Advanced Materials, Inc. commented, "Our analysis and results underscore what we believe is one of the most compelling domestic critical material projects in the United States - a strategically located operation that targets stable long-term demand, with a defined pathway to production and a low-cost, high margin and profitable financial profile. The output of our work over the last two months points to a strong and clearer pathway whereby we believe few domestic critical material projects can match 5E's combination of attractive financial returns, high-value production diversification, and strategic importance to the U.S. industrial base." Weibel continued, "With a strengthened economic profile, combined with our strategic location and upside to modularly expand production capacity in future phases, we believe this project is uniquely positioned to deliver long-term value. We are building an operation that with the proper funding, we believe will not only deliver exceptional shareholder value but also serves crucial domestic needs as it will further strengthen the U.S. supply chains for vital advanced materials."
Project Timeline and Path to Final Investment Decision (FID)
Completion of vendor equipment testing remains the critical step on the path to completing the first phase of commercial engineering. The Company has made meaningful progress on this endeavor thus far and is now targeting completion of vendor testing by late April 2025. Upon completion of the vendor equipment testing and subsequent release of its pre-feasibility report, the Company expects to stage-gate to a streamlined Front End Engineering Design (FEED) phase, keeping the project on track for FID in early 2026.
Export-Import Bank Meetings
In late January, the Company's executive management held productive meetings with representatives of the Export-Import Bank of the United States in Washington, D.C. Through these meetings, 5E gained deeper insights into the funding process requirements and expected timetables, while providing deeper education on the Company's project. Having previously received a non-binding letter of intent for a loan-backed guarantee on project debt financing of up to $285 million for 5E's commercial production facility, the Company now expects to formally apply for the loan package once the first phase of commercial engineering is complete with diligence on-going during the FEED engineering phase.
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 our 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 and Disclosure
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 forecasted financial profile of the Fort Cady Project, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words "believe," "project," "expect," "forecast," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "seek," "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 continue as a going concern and 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, the delisting of our securities from Nasdaq, which could limit investors' ability to transact in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions; and other risks and uncertainties set forth in our filings with the SEC 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. No representation or warranty (express or implied) is made as to, and no reliance should be placed 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 and other risks, you should carefully review the risk factors and other disclosures in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on September 9, 2024 and subsequent filings with the SEC 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.
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[1]Refer to the Company's announcement dated May 11, 2023. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the resource estimates, production targets or forecast financial information derived from the production targets, and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the resource estimates, production forecasts and forecast financial information derived from the production targets continue to apply and have not materially changed.
SOURCE: 5E Advanced Materials, Inc.
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