IGO suspends annual dividends from Tianqi JV amid market downturn
The JV experienced a build in lithium hydroxide inventory at Kwinana over recent months.
Piedmont Lithium (Nasdaq: PLL; ASX: PLL) announced on Tuesday that it has expanded its board with the addition two new directors, Christina Alvord and Michael Bless, to provide additional executive, operational and strategic guidance to support the company’s mission of becoming a US-based lithium supplier.
Alvord most recently served as the president of the Central division of Vulcan Materials Company, the nation’s largest producer of construction aggregates. She previously served as Vulcan’s president of the Southern & Gulf Coast division and vice president of corporate planning and performance improvement. Before joining Vulcan, Alvord held various executive management positions at GE Aviation.
For nearly a decade, Bless served as president and CEO of Century Aluminum Company, a global producer of primary aluminum, and was a member of the company’s board of directors. Prior to becoming CEO, he served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Century. Previous to Century, he held a range of executive positions with several companies including Maxtor and Rockwell Automation.
“We are honoured to welcome Christy and Mike to the newly created directorships,” Piedmont board chairman Jeff Armstrong said in a statement. “Their extensive knowledge and backgrounds will be key as we and our partners look toward our targeted timeline of bringing lithium production online in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026.”
Earlier this week, Piedmont announced it has amend its existing offtake agreement with Tesla.
Under the amended agreement, the company will now deliver approximately 125,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate to Tesla beginning in H2 2023 through the end of 2025. The spodumene supply will be sourced from North American Lithium, a project based in Quebec that Piedmont acquired in 2021.
Shares of Piedmont soared 15.4% by market close Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $884.5 million.
