Piedmont Lithium Sees Production Boost

Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Replicating performance from early this year, Piedmont Lithium (NASDAQ:PLL) (Bessemer City, North Carolina) said it reached new highs in both sales and production from mining operations in Quebec, Canada, although market factors are sluggish.

Backed by investments totaling about $65 million, Piedmont started producing spodumene, a lithium-rich mineral, at the North American Lithium (NAL) facility in Quebec in March 2023. It made its first commercial shipment of about 20,500 metric tons of spodumene concentrate in early August.

On Monday, the company said it shipped out about 31,000 dry metric tons of spodumene concentrate during the three-month period ending September 30, 125% more than during the second quarter of the year.

The amount of concentrate produced, some 52,100 metric tons, marked a 5% increase over second-quarter levels, though levels were up 120% over the same period last year.

"We are pleased to see the benefits from investments made at NAL during the last quarter, with the increase in quarterly production cementing NAL's status as the largest spodumene producing mine in North America," said Keith Phillips, the president and chief executive officer of Piedmont.

Piedmont reached 40,439 dry metric tons of spodumene concentrate in March, which was a new record for the company at the time. It shipped some 15,000 tons of the material during the first quarter from its NAL project.

Canada claims about 2.5% of the world's known deposits of lithium, a critical material used in the batteries that power everything from flashlights to electric vehicles (EV). Most of its deposits are in Quebec, though lithium compounds can be pulled out of the oil and gas fields in Alberta.

NAL, for its part, has moved in fits and starts that appear to be triggered by market events. NAL started operations in 2018, although work was suspended in 2019 after the price of lithium products collapsed. It was acquired in 2021 by Sayona Quebec, a joint venture between Australia's Sayona Mining Limited (Milton, Queensland) and Piedmont.

Piedmont had already scrapped plans for a lithium project in Tennessee that was designed for 30,000 tons of production. Spending was also slashed from around $57 million in 2023 to between $10 million and $14 million this year, largely in response to a market downturn triggered by sluggish demand and overproduction.

Despite federal incentives, the adoption of EVs powered by lithium-ion batteries has been slow, with EVs accounting for only about 1% of the vehicles on the road. Both Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) (Dearborn, Michigan) and Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) (Toyota City, Japan) have scaled back EV production on weaker demand.

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).