PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Lithium developer Sayona Mining has struck an $86.5-million deal to acquire a 60% interest in the Moblan lithium project, in northern Québec, subject to financing.

ASX-listed Sayona on Thursday said that under an agreement with Lithium Royalty Corp (LRC), the company would acquire LRC’s rights to purchase the 60% interest in the project held by Guo Ao Lithium and will acquire the Moblan interest from Guo Ao for a consideration of $86.5-million.

SOQUEM Inc, which holds the remaining 40% interest in the project, has waived its right of first refusal in connection with Sayona’s acquisition of the Moblan Interest.

“We are delighted to be extending our relationship with Investissement Québec, which has invested billions of dollars in lithium and other resources projects across Québec, including North American Lithium (NAL), Moblan and Nemaska Lithium,” said Sayona MD Brett Lynch.

“The recent rise in lithium prices reflects the importance of securing quality supply and there is no better place to be than Québec as we develop a lithium resource base to supply North America’s fast‐growing electric vehicle and battery industry.”

Moblan is host to high‐grade spodumene mineralisation, with a mineral resource foreign estimate of 12.03-million tonnes at 1.4% lithium oxide, and Sayona said on Thursday that the company has identified the opportunity for a potential expansion of the resource, including following up previous geotechnical drilling which intersected up to 29.1 m of continuous spodumene‐bearing pegmatites outside the resource envelope.

The project is located in a proven lithium mining province, Eeyou‐Istchee James Bay, which hosts proven lithium resources including Nemaska Lithium’s Whabouchi mine. It is well serviced by key infrastructure and transport and has access to low‐cost, environment-friendly hydro power.

“Moblan is a tier‐one project comparable to any of the region’s top hard rock lithium mines. It has potential for further expansion and will be an important asset for Sayona’s future growth,” Lynch said on Thursday.

“We have been monitoring opportunities for further expansion in Québec and this ticks all the right boxes. There is a huge opportunity here for Sayona to develop a new lithium asset base in northern Québec, adding to our Abitibi lithium hub.

“This will further drive our transformation into the leading lithium producer in North America, supplying its accelerating demand for this key battery metal,” Lynch said.

Sayona and fellow-listed lithium producer Piedmont Lithium have jointly acquried the NAL project for C$196.1-million, and is working to restore operations at the site, where lithium production was halted in 2019. NAL in 2018 produced 114 000 t of spodumene against a nameplate capacity of 180 000 t. The operation also has the potential to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate with the necessary investment.

Sayona’s Authier project, for its part, is expected to produce 87 400 t/y of spodumene over a mine life of 18 years, with the project expected to cost C$83.6-million to develop.