“We are hopeful that it will serve as an anchor to help attract private funding into the project,” said Melissa Sanderson, a member of the company’s board of directors.
The bank has also offered $330 million to finance the construction of Anson Resources’ lithium production plant in the Paradox Basin, Utah, the Australian company said on Tuesday.
Earlier this year, the bank backed two Australia-listed listed rare earths projects by Australian Strategic Materials and Meteoric Resources with up to $850 million of funding.
The United States and Australia established a critical minerals taskforce last year as Australia seeks to attract investment in minerals processing from allied countries, aiming to reduce reliance on China, which currently controls more than 80% of the global supply.
(By Roshan Thomas; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi and Subhranshu Sahu)
