Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND) said on the 8th that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for cooperation to participate in a lithium-boron plant project for critical minerals being promoted in Nevada on the 7th local time with Ioneer Ltd, an Australian critical minerals developer.
The MOU was signed to establish a cooperation framework to promote KIND's equity investment and the participation of Korea's corporations in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) for the Nevada lithium-boron plant project, which has a total project cost of about $2 billion.
The project is a critical minerals plant in Nevada that produces lithium and boron. Lithium is a key raw material for electric-vehicle batteries and battery energy storage systems (BESS) and other advanced industries.
The project has secured a loan guarantee of about $1 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), aligning with the U.S. government's policies to achieve self-reliance in critical minerals and stabilize supply chains. Based on DOE financial support and KIND's investment linkage, the project is expected to build a stable foundation for implementation and contribute to the participation of Korea's corporations in EPC and the securing of critical mineral supply chains.
KIM Bok-hwan, KIND president, said, "KIND will continue to expand strategic infrastructure investment in the United States and support our corporations so they can actively enter the core supply chain and energy infrastructure markets."