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neWs

piedmont scales up lithium portfolio

hareholders of ASX-listed Piedmont Lith- Piedmont completing its earn-in obligations, developments in Quebec and now in Ghana.
Sium Inc received a double dose of good whereby IronRidge will deliver 50% of the Piedmont reached an agreement with
news last month with the company’s joint bid planned production from Ewoyaa, currently Sayona earlier this year to become a 25%
for the North American Lithium (NAL) op- estimated at 147,000 tpa, assuming market shareholder in the Quebec subsidiary and
erations finally being rubber-stamped only 24 prices on a life-of-mine basis. take a 19.79% stake in the parent company
hours before a new partnership in Ghana was Piedmont president and chief executive which is also listed on the ASX.
unveiled. Keith Phillips said Ewoyaa was “among the “We raised sufficient capital in March to
The Superior Court of Quebec approved world’s most promising projects”. comfortably fund these strategic initiatives as
Piedmont and Sayona Mining Ltd’s joint ac- “The high-grade mineral resource is cur- well as our DFS in North Carolina and should
quisition for the mothballed NAL operations rently modest in scale but offers substantial end 2021 with a robust cash balance,” Phillips
in Canada on July 1, bringing an end to a exploration potential, and the project is very said.
process which took more than 18 months to well located, being only 70km from a major “We will now evaluate plans to capitalise
complete. port,” he said. on our expanded spodumene resource base
The following day, Piedmont announced “Ewoyaa builds on Piedmont’s strategic to become a larger producer of the battery-
it had struck an agreement with IronRidge commitment to be a large-scale and low- quality lithium hydroxide that America will
Resources Ltd to acquire 9.47% of the AIM- cost producer of lithium hydroxide and spo- require to power the ongoing transition to
listed company and a 50% interest in the Aus- dumene concentrate sourced from diverse electric vehicles. Lithium has been called the
tralian-based group’s Ghana-focused lithium sustainable resources in favourable jurisdic- ‘irreplaceable element of the electric era’ and
portfolio, headlined by the Ewoyaa project. tions.” we will bring large-scale production of lithium
Piedmont will invest $US15 million (€10.8 IronRidge published a scoping study on hydroxide to America.”
million) for the equity stake in IronRidge and Ewoyaa in January which forecast average Sayona last month also announced it was
will also have the opportunity to earn up to production of 295,000 tpa, an after-tax NPV raising $50 million – comprised of an over-
50% of the Ghana-based vehicle by spend- of $US345 million and IRR of 125% for an ini- subscribed placement of $45 million, of which
ing up to $US77 million, including $US17 mil- tial capex of $US70 million. First production is Piedmont contributed $8 million, and a $5
lion on exploration and a DFS over the next planned for 2025. million share purchase plan – to support its
two years for an initial 22.5% interest at the Phillips described 2021 as a “transforma- acquisition of NAL and to advance the Abitibi
project level. tive year” for Piedmont given the company’s lithium hub in Quebec which also incorpo-
The two companies have also entered into achievements in expanding its own Carolina rates the company’s longstanding Authier
a binding supply agreement, conditional upon lithium project in the US, coupled with positive project.

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Resources. Peabody Energy. Carrapateena copper-gold copper-gold mines in Laos.
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