en.Wedoany.com Reported - Jindalee Lithium plans to spin off its flagship lithium assets in the United States into a new company called US Elemental and seek a Nasdaq listing, targeting the second half of 2026 to accelerate the development of its lithium project in Oregon.
Ian Rodger, who will serve as CEO of US Elemental, revealed that Jindalee will hold approximately 80% of the new entity after merging with a US-listed SPAC. The transaction, completed through the merger of its subsidiary with a US-listed SPAC, is expected to close in the third or fourth quarter of this year, depending on the review progress of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company plans to file an S-4 registration statement with the SEC in the coming weeks, a key step in the listing process.
US Elemental's core asset is the McDermitt lithium project on the Oregon-Nevada border, located within the McDermitt Caldera, which shares the same geological formation as Lithium Americas' Thacker Pass project. The McDermitt Caldera is considered one of the world's largest known lithium mineralization clusters due to its mineral richness. Rodger stated that McDermitt and Thacker Pass represent the two largest known lithium resources in the U.S. today. He also noted that the McDermitt Caldera holds larger lithium reserves than the Atacama, and the project has a mine life that could span half a century.
The McDermitt project completed a pre-feasibility study at the end of 2024, which showed a projected mine life exceeding 60 years using only a fraction of the existing resource base. The company plans to launch a large-scale infill drilling program in the second half of 2026 to support a full feasibility study, also slated to begin in the second half of this year, with a target completion by the end of 2027. Jindalee aims to secure key federal permits by the end of 2028. Additionally, the McDermitt project has been selected as one of the first ten projects under the U.S. federal government's FAST-41 permitting initiative, which aims to streamline approval processes for strategic infrastructure and critical minerals projects. Jindalee also controls the early-stage Clayton North lithium project in Nevada, but the company's primary focus is on the McDermitt project.
Rodger noted that improving lithium market conditions support US Elemental's decision to seek a U.S. listing. He believes the market is entering a bullish phase, with lithium prices rebounding significantly from 2024 lows. Although the entire lithium industry faces cost pressures from inflation, tariffs, and supply chain disruptions, US Elemental is not immediately affected by short-term inflation as it remains in the research and permitting stage. Meanwhile, Lithium Americas has warned that tariffs and logistics disruptions related to Middle East shipping routes could increase Thacker Pass development costs by up to $120 million. Rodger added that higher development costs across the industry could ultimately support stronger lithium prices, as prices need to rise to incentivize more capacity to come online, and US Elemental is seen as one of the more advanced significant assets in the U.S.
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