Piedmont Lithium has received a partial prepayment of $31.6 million for the sale of 15,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of 5.4 per cent lithium concentrate under its offtake deal with North American Lithium (NAL).
Piedmont Lithium is a global supplier of lithium resources that are critical to the electric vehicle supply chain. According to the company, the partial prepayment has increased its cash position to approximately $100 million.
NAL is jointly owned by Sayona Québec, a subsidiary of Sayona Mining (75 per cent), and Piedmont Lithium (25 per cent). NAL was first acquired by Sayona in August 2021.
The operation commenced commercial production in March 2023 and delivered its first joint venture (JV) shipment of 20,500 dmt to a third-party in early August.
Piedmont said that production ramp up continues to progress well, and it expects shipments under the NAL offtake to equal to 56,500 dmt in 2023.
“This is a significant day for Piedmont Lithium as we announce the first shipment of lithium concentrate under our offtake agreement with NAL and the receipt of a prepayment, which significantly increases our cash position,” Piedmont Lithium chief executive officer (CEO) Keith Phillips said.
“We look forward to the additional Piedmont shipments and JV shipments planned for 2023, and we expect sales from Piedmont shipments to help fund our strategic initiatives while reducing our need to raise equity in the market.”
Phillips acknowledged the recent board changes Sayona Mining announced on August 28, where Brett Lynch resigned as CEO and James Brown, a non-executive director, was appointed as the company’s interim CEO.
“We would like to thank Brett Lynch for his vision, which enabled Piedmont and Sayona Mining to successfully acquire and restart the NAL operations, and we look forward to continued success as we welcome James Brown as the interim CEO of Sayona Mining,” Phillips said.