Piedmont Lithium expands North American footprint

Nasdaq- and Sydney-listed lithium developer Piedmont Lithium has strengthened its position as a growing lithium force in North America through an investment and offtake agreement with Australia's Sayona Mining, which is advancing a lithium upstream and downstream production hub in Canada.

Piedmont, which is in the process of redomiciling to the US state of North Carolina from Australia, has agreed to pay $12mn to acquire 19.9pc of Sayona Mining and 25pc of Sayona Quebec, as well as a life of mine agreement for 60,000 t/yr or 50pc of Sayona's lithium concentrate output, the company said.

Queensland-headquartered Sayona is developing the advanced-stage Authier lithium project in Quebec and the nearby early-stage Tansim project and progressing a bid for the assets of suspended producer North American Lithium in Canada.

Piedmont in September last year announced a conditional five-year offtake deal with electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla for up to one third of the 160,000 t/yr of lithium concentrate it expects to produce from its project in North Carolina. This project is also targeting the production of 22,700 t/yr of lithium hydroxide.

Commenting on its agreements with Sayona, Piedmont chief executive Keith Phillips said the investments are additive to Piedmont from a resources and reserves perspective and the spodumene supply agreement will offset its Tesla commitments in the near term and position the company for growth in lithium hydroxide production. The supply agreement is dependent on offtake deliveries starting between July 2023 and July 2024.

"Sayona's pursuit of the brownfields assets of North American Lithium offers a unique regional consolidation opportunity," he said.

North American Lithium produced 114,000t of lithium concentrate in 2018, but went into administration in February 2019 because of a slowdown in the global lithium market. It has capacity to produce around 180,000 t/yr. It is estimated that Sayona's Authier project — on which a definitive feasibility study has been completed — will be able to produce around 114,000 t/yr over an initial mine life of 14 years.

By Angus Macmillan