Piedmont Lithium Inc (ASX:PLL, NASDAQ:PLL, XETRA:) has outlined its development plans for 2022, looking to bring the Carolina Lithium Project in the US to a final investment decision, while also pursuing a second US plant, with site selection planned for the second quarter of this year.
Piedmont intends to eventually double its US lithium hydroxide production potential to 60,000 tonnes per year, with plans to produce or secure offtake rights to an estimated 500,000 tonnes per year of spodumene concentrate 6% (SP6) production.
“We are uniquely well-positioned”
“We are developing our assets at an opportune time with global sales of electric vehicles having doubled in 2021, and large US battery plants investments being made by automotive and battery companies, and we are uniquely well-positioned to capitalise on it,” Piedmont Lithium president and CEO Keith Phillips said.
“We are advancing our flagship Carolina Lithium Project through key permitting, engineering, and project financing steps and we expect to achieve significant milestones this year.
“Our recent feasibility study confirmed the strategic nature of Carolina Lithium, with net present value (NPV) exceeding $2 billion and independent assessments confirming its impressive sustainability profile.
“We expect Carolina Lithium to be a critical factor in furthering the United States’ progress towards lithium self-sufficiency.”
The key 2022 workstreams planned for the Carolina Lithium Project include a detailed and front-end engineering design, the selection of an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor, final permitting and approvals, and the acquisition of strategic partnerships and potential project debt financing.
Targeting production restart for 2023
“In addition to Carolina Lithium, we are progressing out two international investments and our plans to develop a second lithium hydroxide conversion plant,” Phillips continued.
“We are collaborating with our partner, Sayona Mining, to capitalise on strong lithium market conditions through the restart of spodumene concentrate production at our jointly owned North American Lithium (NAL) business in Quebec.
“Long lead equipment has been ordered and production is expected to commence in the first half of 2023.
“Exploration activities are continuing at the Ewoyaa Project in Ghana and, along with our partner Atlantic Lithium, we plan to complete a feasibility study in 2022, with first production possible in 2024.
“These significant spodumene assets support our plans to launch a second 30,000 tonnes per year lithium hydroxide conversion plant.
“US lithium demand is soaring, and domestic lithium hydroxide capacity is currently a fraction of what will be required in the mid-late 2020s.”
Piedmont Lithium holds offtake rights to 50% of North American Lithium’s life-of-mine production, meaning the company will have broad exposure to north American lithium post-production restart.
Similarly, the company is partnering with Atlantic Lithium in Africa, where the Ewoyaa Project is expected to produce an updated mineral resource estimate based on recent drill results, and a feasibility study targeted for late 2022 with a final investment decision to follow.
About Piedmont Lithium
Piedmont Lithium plans to develop a world-class integrated lithium business in the US, enabling the transition to a net-zero world and the creation of a clean energy economy in America.
The company’s location in the Carolina Tin Spodumene Belt of North Carolina, the cradle of the lithium industry, positions it to be one of the world’s lowest-cost producers of lithium hydroxide, and one of the most strategically located to serve the fast-growing US electric vehicle supply chain.