The lithium supply for producing electronics and electronic vehicles has been in short supply in the USA. Thanks to the new $135 million investment from Sayona Mining, the North American Lithium (NAL) operation is expected to help address the surging demand.
The NAL operation is a large-scale lithium carbonate project located in Quebec, Canada. It is fully permitted and construction ready. The project is expected to produce high-quality battery-grade lithium carbonate.
As part of the single‐tranche placement, Sayona will issue around one billion of new ordinary shares, each at A$0.18, to each participating global institutional, professional and sophisticated investors.
This investment will allow Sayona to restart the NAL operation and bring it into production. This is great news for the many industries that rely on lithium batteries, as well as the environment. With this new operation, we can expect less reliance on imported lithium and a smaller carbon footprint from battery production.
The mine is estimated to deliver approximately 168,000tpa of 6% spodumene concentrate during its mine life of 27 years. Sayona owns a 75% stake in the NAL project and is scheduled to restart in Q1 2023.
This investment in new battery technology is bound to have numerous reprecussions in industries across the USA and likely will ramp up retrofitting efforts into electric trains and light rail. It will be interesting to see how this project unfolds in the coming years.
Battery technology and short supply has held back a number of projects in the USA electric industry for example the California high speed rail. The new Sayona operation may help alleviate some of this pressure and we can expect to see more progress in electric infrastructure in the USA as a result.
This is a significant investment in the future of clean energy and electric vehicles. For more information on Sayona Mining and their investment in the NAL operation, visit their website and follow our blog for more information.
This post was written by Justin Tidd, Director at Becker Mining Communications! For over 15 years, Becker Communications has been the industry’s leader in increasingly more sophisticated electrical mining communication systems. As they expanded into surface mining, railroads, and tunneling they added wireless communication systems, handheld radios, tagging and tracking systems, as well as gas monitoring.