TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Despite the eurozone debt crisis and fears of a global slowdown, demand for Perth-based Talison Lithium’s products has stayed strong, the company said on Tuesday, announcing a 53% rise in sales volumes for the quarter ended September 30.

The news sent the company’s shares 26% higher on the TSX to close at C$3.77.

CEO Peter Oliver said demand remained resilient across the world for the lithium concentrate that Talison produces at its Greenbushes mine in Australia, adding that things would likely only get better.

“This demand, together with a recent tightening in global lithium supply is expected to enhance Talison’s pricing in the 2012 calendar year,” he said in a release.

Talison sold 80 315 t of lithium concentrate during the September quarter – or about 12 000 t of lithium carbonate equivalent, the form of the metal used to make rechargeable batteries that go into electronics and electric vehicles.

That was less than the 90 708 t of concentrate it produced during the period, as sales depend on when shipments occur.

Talison said it had recently opened an office in Shanghai to support its growing business in China, and is also opening offices in Santiago, Chile, where it is developing the Salares 7 lithium brines project.

The company added that its expansion to double capacity at Greenbushes to 740 000 t/y of lithium concentrate was on schedule for completion by the end of next year, and that it had narrowed down the possible locations for a minerals conversion plant it plans to build on the Greenbushes property or at another Western Australian location.

The minerals conversion facility will allow the company to produce the higher-value lithium carbonate.