Hyundai Engineering joins $2b Nevada critical minerals project

Hyundai Engineering is making its formal entry into the North American critical minerals plant market by joining a US lithium-boron project.

The company announced Wednesday that it signed an MOU in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday (local time) to perform procurement services for the Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project, being developed by Australian critical minerals company Ioneer.

The MOU builds on a letter of intent submitted in June, further defining the scope of cooperation between the two companies. The signing ceremony was attended by key officials including Kim Yi-tak, first vice minister of South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; Kyle Haustveit, deputy secretary of the US Department of Energy (DOE); Kim Bok-hwan, president of the Korea Overseas Infrastructure and Urban Development Corporation (KIND); Lee Seung-dong, head of Hyundai Engineering's chemical plant division; and James Callaway, chairman of Ioneer's board of directors.

The project, with a total cost of approximately $2 billion, will be developed at the Rhyolite Ridge mine in Nevada. The site is considered the largest lithium-boron deposit in North America and one of the rarest and most valuable of its kind in the world.

Ioneer, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, is a lithium-boron development company listed on the Nasdaq and holds a 100 percent stake in the project. The company plans to produce lithium carbonate and boric acid — the final end products — directly at the mine site, using its process optimization technology.

The project secured its final federal permit from the US Bureau of Land Management in October 2024, completing the major regulatory approval process. The DOE has also committed approximately $1 billion in financial support. Having completed roughly a decade of development preparation, the project is now entering its full operational phase and is expected to play a significant role in advancing North America's critical minerals industry and stabilizing supply chains.

Hyundai Engineering will handle the procurement of major equipment and materials for the project, using it as a springboard to expand into the North American critical minerals plant market. The company also plans to strengthen its competitiveness in the critical minerals sector and actively pursue new business opportunities.

KIND is also reviewing a potential equity investment in the project, which could establish a stable foundation for cooperation among the government, policy finance institutions and private companies. "This MOU is highly significant in that we are now participating in a critical minerals supply chain project that the US government is actively prioritizing," a Hyundai Engineering official said. "We will execute the project successfully and continue to expand our business opportunities in the global critical minerals plant market."

Meanwhile, Hyundai Engineering has also been demonstrating differentiated capabilities in the urban office market, having recently completed Rene Square within District 6 of Euljiro 3-ga.