Sayona's final approval for North American Lithium restart in place
miningweekly.com
12th December 2022
By: Esmarie Iannucci
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Australasia
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Lithium developer Sayona Mining has been awarded the final permit for the restart of the North American Lithium (NAL) operations, in Quebec.
The company said on Monday that the latest regulatory approval was among more than 130 permits to resume mining operations obtained from provincial and federal government authorities, including the Ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parc, or MELCCFP, the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et des Forêts, or MRNF, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
“Since acquiring the NAL complex in August 2021 in conjunction with Piedmont Lithium, our team has been working hard to quickly restart operations to establish ourselves as a leader in lithium production, while maintaining a small environmental footprint and exemplary community engagement,” said Sayona Québec CEO Guy Laliberté.
“Global demand for lithium is increasing weekly and it is essential that NAL go into production to help satisfy this demand.”
Sayona is on track to restart lithium production in the first quarter of 2023, becoming the only lithium concentrate producer in Quebec.
The company has significantly upgraded the equipment and facilities of the NAL complex to ensure the successful optimisation of production. As of the end of October 2022, procurement was 98% completed, with construction activities ramping up and mining contractors on-site.
An earlier prefeasibility study estimated that the 1.5-million-tonne-a-year NAL operation could deliver 4.4-million tonnes of spodumene concentrate over a mine life of 27 years.
Sayona is targeting an expansion of NAL’s future mine production capacity following the recent acquisition of 48 new claims spanning nearly 2 000 ha, located adjacent to the NAL operation. |
