The Ioneer Ltd (ASX: INR) share price is in limbo today after the company asked for a trading halt pending an announcement.
At yesterday's market close, the Ioneer share price was trading at 44 cents.
The trading halt will conclude on Friday 5 March or once the announcement is released to the market.
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Ioneer positions for capital raising
The mineral exploration company today advised that it is positioning to release a capital raising announcement.
This follows its 16 February announcement that it had joined forces with construction giant Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT).
Caterpillar is one of the world's largest construction and mining equipment manufacturers.
The 2 companies entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that Ioneer will use Caterpillar's Cat® Command for hauling, Autonomous Haul System (AHS). This will improve operator safety, equipment utilisation
and site productivity.
The company will use AHS at its Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project based in Nevada, US – the first greenfield operation to use the system in North America.
Starting in 2023, Ioneer will initiate operations with a fleet of Cat® 785 Next Generation trucks equipped with Cat® Command.
With the truck purchase in sight, Ioneer seems on the move to have the funds in place in order to take the next steps.
What else is coming up for Ioneer?
According to Ioneer's December quarterly update, the company is continuing its engineering efforts at the Rhyolite Ridge project. In addition, negotiations are underway for the first lithium offtake sales.
The update concluded that looking ahead, Ioneer would be, "further advancing strategic partnering and financing process through continued technical and financial discussions".
The forthcoming capital raising announcement will provide more colour to the market about how these activities are being carried out.
Ioneer share price snapshot
The Ioneer share price has rocketed 319% over the past 6 months.
Ioneer has a market capitalisation of $733.4 million, and there are presently 1.7 billion shares outstanding.
