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ReGIoNAl RouNDuP NoRTH AmeRICA

No worries for new Sayona chief

lack of sizzle in the lithium sector is the
A least of new Sayona Mining Ltd man-
aging director Brett Lynch’s worries.
Lynch’s three-month tenure at Sayona
has coincided with a major flattening of
a lithium market which now appears to
be oversupplied following the develop-
ment and expansion of several operations
around the world.
Such a scenario would ordinarily spell
trouble for a company like Sayona which
is seeking to bring its Authier project in
Quebec, Canada online over the next
three years but despite a challenging intro-
duction to his new role, Lynch sees only
upside for both the lithium industry and for
Sayona.
“I’m even more confident now than
when I started because I see opportunities Brett Lynch
to build a significant player with the right and certainly being able to execute on the
credentials and capabilities in the indus- mining development.” shuttered North American Lithium Inc op-
try,” Lynch told Paydirt. A mining engineer with more than three eration.
“I have no doubt that lithium demand will decades of experience, particularly in the Last month the Quebec Superior Court
be as good, if not better than what all the coal industry, Lynch has had his hands full opened an asset sale process for the lith-
pundits are forecasting. And I don’t think since entering the hot seat at Sayona on ium mine and concentrator which ceased
I’ve seen anything over the last five years July 1, taking over from long-serving com- production in February when NAL sought
that has changed this. pany director Dan O’Neill. protection from creditors.
“These shorter term fluctuations, I’ve One of his main areas of focus is prepar- The operation produced around
seen before in many commodity markets ing the final submissions for Quebec au- 114,000t of spodumene last year, exceed-
so I’m not too perturbed about that, how- thorities to consider ahead of next year’s ing its 180,000 tpa nameplate capacity.
ever, it does mean that you need to focus public consultation process to ultimately Lynch believes Authier and the NAL op-
on not just getting into the market, but like obtain approvals to develop and mine eration could be combined and form a key
all mining operations, being a very com- Authier, about 45km from the established part of the Quebec Government’s plan to
petitive, if not the most competitive player, mining town of Val d’Or. develop a lithium extraction and down-
“We’ve got a very capable project man-
agement team to take this through the as- stream processing hub.
sessment phase, which will take us about “The Government wants to drive lithium
13-18 months, so pretty much through to very strongly in Quebec and are looking to
the end of 2020 when we expect to have establish hubs – of which Authier could be a
passed all the testing and assessment and deposit within a hub – to consolidate produc-
got the tick of approval from the Quebec tion and make sure Quebec is a world leader
Government to proceed with the mining in costs, technology, facilities and manage-
applications,” Lynch said. ment,” Lynch said.
Completion and submission of the envi- “From a market perspective, organising
ronmental impact statement will be pack- financing and funding is a different proposal
aged together with last year’s DFS which today than it was two years ago. My atten-
indicated $C89.9 million (plus $C83.6 mil- tion is focused on where we need to be posi-
lion life-of-mine capital) was required to tioned to be successful, regardless of market
develop an 87,400 tpa lithium concentrate fluctuations.”
operation at Authier. Sayona, which recently raised almost $2
The DFS also highlighted the project million via a SPP and placement for upcom-
would generate a pre-tax NPV of $C184.8 ing work at Authier, has also partnered with
million and IRR of 33.7% over an initial 18 Australian producer Altura Mining Ltd on a
years of mine life. Mine gate cash costs three-year, $1.5 million exploration deal over
of $C416/t and FOB port cash costs of the former’s tenements in the Pilgangoora
$C482/t are estimated. district of Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
Lynch said the downturn in lithium had Altura and Sayona share several common
offered Sayona a chance to review de- board members and have aligned interests,
Sayona is seeking to bring its Authier velopment plans for Authier and consider something which Lynch believes his com-
pany can leverage off.
lithium project in Quebec into development other strategic opportunities that may be
for first production in 2022 on offer in Quebec, including a bid for the – Michael Washbourne

Page 112 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT