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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Sayona Mining Limited (Milton, Queensland) and joint-venture partner Piedmont Lithium (NASDAQ:PLL) (Bessemer City, North Carolina) have announced the first commercial shipment of spodumene (lithium) concentrate from the North American Lithium (NAL) operation in Quebec.
The first shipment of approximately 20,500 metric tons of spodumene concentrate has been sold via an unnamed trading company to unnamed international parties, Piedmont said in a press release. The AAL Moon vessel departed on August 1.
The next shipments will be sold directly to Piedmont, with an estimated volume of 30,000 metric tons to be shipped in August and September, "subject to ship sizing and availability," according to a Sayona press release. Sayona noted it has "sufficient tonnage" to meet the volume requirements. The companies have an offtake agreement in which Piedmont is entitled to the greater of 113,000 tons or 50% of concentrate produced in a calendar year.
Meanwhile, an additional 15,000 metric tons of spodumene concentrate are planned for shipment in September to October to electric vehicle (EV) battery maker LG Chem Limited (Seoul, South Korea), as the initial piece of a four-year, 200,000-metric-ton agreement announced in February. The deal also includes an agreement under which LG Chem will make a $75 million equity investment to hold 5.7% of Piedmont common shares. For more information, see Industrial Info's February 17, 2023, article - Piedmont to Supply LG Chem with Raw Material for EV Batteries.
"With our recent study showing the outstanding value of downstream processing at NAL, we look forward to developing a vertically integrated operation and facilitating the ongoing development of a North American supply chain for this key 21st century mineral," Sayona's Managing Director Brett Lynch said in the press release.
The NAL operation, which is in La Corne, Quebec, restarted earlier this year after it was placed under care and maintenance by a previous owner in 2019. Sayona acquired the operation in 2021 (75% stake) in partnership with Piedmont, which owns the remaining 25%. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can click here to read a detailed report on the restart project.
The NAL site has produced more than 42,000 tons of concentrate since the restart, according to Sayona.
The NAL open pit mine originally had a capacity of 6.8 million tons per year, but that has since been updated to 10 million tons per year. It includes a flotation concentrator of up to 4,200 tons per day to extract 186,000 tons per year of spodumene concentrate from 1.5 million tons per year of milled ore feed over a 27-year mine life. A new plant would convert the concentrate into 23,610 tons per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate over a 16-year operational life, and another plant would extract lithium hydroxide from the concentrate. 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 million 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.
Industrial Info is tracking one project under construction at the NAL site, expected to wrap up in 2025: an upgrade/expansion of infrastructural facilities at the mine. Subscribers can click here for more information.
Industrial Info is tracking other lithium-related projects in Canada, including efforts from lithium producer Nemaska Lithium Incorporated (Montreal, Quebec). Construction of its Whabouchi mine and concentrator project near Nemiscau, Québec, is planned to kick off before the end of the year and be completed in 2024. The spodumene concentrate will be transported to a lithium hydroxide conversion plant in Bécancour. Subscribers can click here for the project report on the mine and concentrator and click here for the report on the conversion plant.
Nemaska has signed an agreement with Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) (Dearborn, Michigan) for up to 13,000 tons of lithium hydroxide per year from Bécancour for 11 years, but prior to its delivery, Ford will receive spodumene concentrate from the Whabouchi mine.
For more information on the agreement and other lithium projects in Canada, see Industrial Info's May 23, 2023, article - Ford Signs Lithium Supply Agreement with Canada's Nemaska.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
The first shipment of approximately 20,500 metric tons of spodumene concentrate has been sold via an unnamed trading company to unnamed international parties, Piedmont said in a press release. The AAL Moon vessel departed on August 1.
The next shipments will be sold directly to Piedmont, with an estimated volume of 30,000 metric tons to be shipped in August and September, "subject to ship sizing and availability," according to a Sayona press release. Sayona noted it has "sufficient tonnage" to meet the volume requirements. The companies have an offtake agreement in which Piedmont is entitled to the greater of 113,000 tons or 50% of concentrate produced in a calendar year.
Meanwhile, an additional 15,000 metric tons of spodumene concentrate are planned for shipment in September to October to electric vehicle (EV) battery maker LG Chem Limited (Seoul, South Korea), as the initial piece of a four-year, 200,000-metric-ton agreement announced in February. The deal also includes an agreement under which LG Chem will make a $75 million equity investment to hold 5.7% of Piedmont common shares. For more information, see Industrial Info's February 17, 2023, article - Piedmont to Supply LG Chem with Raw Material for EV Batteries.
"With our recent study showing the outstanding value of downstream processing at NAL, we look forward to developing a vertically integrated operation and facilitating the ongoing development of a North American supply chain for this key 21st century mineral," Sayona's Managing Director Brett Lynch said in the press release.
The NAL operation, which is in La Corne, Quebec, restarted earlier this year after it was placed under care and maintenance by a previous owner in 2019. Sayona acquired the operation in 2021 (75% stake) in partnership with Piedmont, which owns the remaining 25%. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can click here to read a detailed report on the restart project.
The NAL site has produced more than 42,000 tons of concentrate since the restart, according to Sayona.
The NAL open pit mine originally had a capacity of 6.8 million tons per year, but that has since been updated to 10 million tons per year. It includes a flotation concentrator of up to 4,200 tons per day to extract 186,000 tons per year of spodumene concentrate from 1.5 million tons per year of milled ore feed over a 27-year mine life. A new plant would convert the concentrate into 23,610 tons per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate over a 16-year operational life, and another plant would extract lithium hydroxide from the concentrate. 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 million 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.
Industrial Info is tracking one project under construction at the NAL site, expected to wrap up in 2025: an upgrade/expansion of infrastructural facilities at the mine. Subscribers can click here for more information.
Industrial Info is tracking other lithium-related projects in Canada, including efforts from lithium producer Nemaska Lithium Incorporated (Montreal, Quebec). Construction of its Whabouchi mine and concentrator project near Nemiscau, Québec, is planned to kick off before the end of the year and be completed in 2024. The spodumene concentrate will be transported to a lithium hydroxide conversion plant in Bécancour. Subscribers can click here for the project report on the mine and concentrator and click here for the report on the conversion plant.
Nemaska has signed an agreement with Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) (Dearborn, Michigan) for up to 13,000 tons of lithium hydroxide per year from Bécancour for 11 years, but prior to its delivery, Ford will receive spodumene concentrate from the Whabouchi mine.
For more information on the agreement and other lithium projects in Canada, see Industrial Info's May 23, 2023, article - Ford Signs Lithium Supply Agreement with Canada's Nemaska.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
