5E Advanced Materials

The company holds a 100% interest in the Fort Cady sedimentary borate deposit in Southern California. The deposit is fully permitted for mining operations and contains a JORC-compliant resource of over 100 million short tons of boric acid equivalent. It is the only permitted boron deposit in the United States.

The United States imports nearly all of its boron, relying heavily on Turkey and South American sources. Boron is designated a critical mineral by the U.S. Department of the Interior. It is essential for high-strength glass fiber, neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets used in EVs and wind turbines, and advanced ceramics.

Susan Brennan was named CEO in 2023. She previously led manufacturing operations at Bloom Energy and held senior production roles at Nissan North America. Her background is in scaling complex industrial production, which aligns with the company's transition from exploration to small-scale commercial production.

The Fort Cady project uses an in-situ recovery mining method. Hot brine is injected underground to dissolve the boron minerals, and the boron-rich solution is pumped to the surface for processing into boric acid and specialty borates. The company claims this approach is lower-cost, produces less waste, and uses a smaller surface footprint than traditional open-pit borate mines.

Phase 1 of the project targets an annual production rate of 90,000 short tons of boric acid equivalent. The company began commissioning the facility in May 2024. A larger Phase 2 expansion is contingent on Phase 1 operational results and market conditions.

The company has a dual listing: it debuted on the Australian Securities Exchange in March 2022 under the ticker 5EA and completed a Nasdaq uplisting in June 2023 under the ticker FEAM. The Nasdaq listing was designed to broaden its U.S. investor base as it transitions toward domestic production.

Global production is dominated by Rio Tinto, which operates the large open-pit mine at Boron, California, and Turkish state-owned Eti Maden, which controls the Kirka deposit. Together they supply the majority of the world's refined borates. 5E is a micro-cap challenger targeting specialty markets and supply-security conscious buyers rather than commodity bulk-borate volumes.