Commissioning Proceeds at Restarted Quebec Lithium Mine

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With global lithium demand reaching peaks thanks to the widespread rollout of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, Sayona Mining (Brisbane, Australia) has announced that it has produced the first lithium concentrate from the restarted North American Lithium (NAL) operation in Quebec. Commissioning at the site is proceeding as planned, and Sayona is expecting the first saleable concentrate to be produced in the near future.

The NAL site was placed under care and maintenance by a previous owner in 2019, with more than C$400 million (US$290 million) invested in the operation. Sayona acquired the operation in August 2021 in partnership with Piedmont Lithium Incorporated (NASDAQ:PLL) (Belmont, North Carolina), which has a 25% stake in the project.

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The 6.8 million-ton-per-year open pit mine includes a flotation concentrator to produce up to 4,200 tons per year of lithium concentrate from 1.5 million tons per year of milled ore feed over a 27-year mine life. The concentrator also will receive ore from Sayona and Piedmont's nearby Authier lithium project, located about 30 miles east of the NAL site.

The Authier property will be developed as a 2 million-ton-per-year open pit mining operation and will provide about 33% of the 1.5 tons per year of milled ore fed through the NAL concentrator. The site is expected to begin production by the end of this year. Subscribers can click here for more details on the Authier development.

And the NAL concentrator also has enabled Sayona and Piedmont to an ink an agreement with Jourdan Resources Incorporated (Toronto, Ontario) in a joint venture of the Vallee lithium mine, which is adjacent to the NAL site. The companies are only just now kicking off an exploration and development program at the site, which is expected to lead to more than 50,000 meters of drilling in 2023. The agreement between Jourdan and North American Lithium (the 75:25 joint venture company of Sayona and Piedmont) allows NAL to acquire 20 claims of the Vallee development outright, with the right to earn up to a 51% stake in the remaining 28 claims. Construction of the mine could begin in a few years, after exploration and site studies are completed. Subscribers can click here for more details.

The lithium development at and around the NAL site are some of the largest lithium projects in Quebec. Smaller lithium projects in the province include junior exploration company Vision Lithium Incorporated's planned Sirmac direct shipping ore (DSO) mining operation. Construction on the mine could begin the coming years, with potential project completion in 2027. The 298,500-ton-per-year open pit mine would truck 80,250 of DSO to a railhead in Chibougamau, Quebec, for pickup. The site is expected to have a four-year mine life. Subscribers can click here for more details.

Other Canadian lithium-mining projects can be found in Ontario. Planned to kick off this year is Rock Tech Lithium Incorporated's (Vancouver, British Columbia) Georgia Lake lithium mine and mill near Beardmore. The site will be developed as a 1 million-ton-per-year open pit mining operation with a 2,800-ton-per-day flotation processing plant to produce 100,000 tons per year of high-grade concentrate over the first four years of mine life. After the first four years, feedstock to the flotation plant would be supplemented by an underground development, extending the mine's life for another five years. Subscribers can click here for the report on the above-ground development and click here for details of the underground addition.

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