PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Lithium miner Sayona Mining has delivered its first shipment of 20 500 t of spodumene concentrate from the North American Lithium (NAL) joint venture (JV) operation, in Québec.

The first shipment was sold into the global spot market through a major trading company, with payments expected within five business days of delivery delivering cashflows to NAL as it ramps up production.

“This first shipment is another significant milestone as we fast‐track production at North America’s key source of hard rock lithium. I would like to congratulate the NAL team as we continue to advance Québec’s role as a critical supplier of lithium from hard rock sources to the battery materials sector,” said Sayona MD Brett Lynch.

“We are particularly pleased to make this first shipment in less than two years since NAL’s acquisition in August 2021, reflecting the team’s strong execution capabilities and commitment.

“With our recent study showing the outstanding value of downstream processing at NAL, we look forward to developing a vertically integrated operation and facilitating the ongoing development of a North American supply chain for this key twenty-first-century mineral.”

The next shipments of spodumene concentrate will be sold by NAL to JV partner Piedmont Lithium under the terms of the existing offtake agreement. The estimated volume of the shipments is 30 000 t and is expected to be shipped in August and September, subject to ship sizing and availability.

Sayona said on Wednesday that NAL had sufficient tonnage of spodumene concentrate at the port to meet the volume requirements of the first estimated shipment to Piedmont Lithium.

The offtake agreement between NAL and Piedmont Lithium started in July 2023, with Piedmont Lithium entitled to the greater of 113 000 t or 50% of spodumene concentrate production in a calendar year.

NAL expects to sell Piedmont Lithium at least 56 500 t in the first half of the 2024 financial year, with an equivalent amount sold to other customers, subject to the performance of NAL’s production ramp‐up.

Sayona is targeting total NAL spodumene concentrate sales in excess of this combined amount in the first half of the 2024 financial year. The timing and volume of each shipment will be determined through mutual agreement between NAL and Piedmont Lithium, with scheduling of shipments based on end-user requirements.

NAL has produced more than 42 000 t of spodumene concentrate since the successful restart of production in March 2023. The ramp‐up of the mine and process plant continues to perform in line with expectations, with the spodumene concentrate also adhering to offtake specifications.