Commercial sales of lithium mineral concentrate expected by Q3 2023 as Sayona Quebec restarts production at the North American Lithium mine in Canada. 

Piedmont Lithium and Sayona Mining announced the restart of the North American Lithium project in Quebec, Canada. Sayona Quebec, a joint venture between Piedmont Lithium and Sayona Mining, which operates the mine, anticipates commercial shipments to commence in July 2023. The initial production run achieved approximately 70t of spodumene concentrate, with production of saleable concentrate expected to begin imminently. The company also reported a cost of US$80M to restart the mine and concentrator facilities. In time, Sayona Quebec expects to complete construction of a conversion facility to produce lithium carbonate from the mine’s mineral feedstock.  

The unveiling of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), an incentive scheme to promote electric vehicle uptake, by the US Government in mid-2022, has led industry stakeholders to comment on the lack of sufficient new lithium supply scheduled to come online. Coupled with this, in order to qualify for subsidies from the IRA, raw materials for batteries used in an EV must originate from countries with a free trade agreement with the US, of which Canada is one. Sayona Quebec is one of only a small number of new lithium assets to have come online in recent years outside of China, and one of the only North American sources of lithium mineral concentrate. Spodumene concentrate feedstock from the operation has already been contracted to LG Chem, who signed an offtake agreement with Sayona Quebec in February of this year, though this would be via Piedmont Lithium (read more here).