China’s steel demand shifts to higher-grade ore, Rio Tinto exec says
"The demand for high grade ore continues to be strong," chief commercial officer Bold Baatar said.
Emerging Australian lithium miner Sayona Mining (ASX: SYA) announced on Monday that the company has submitted a bid for Québec’s North American Lithium (NAL). The bid was lodged before the stated deadline on February 21.
Sayona believes its bid for the NAL assets had the advantage of being able to combine lithium produced from the company’s Authier project with the lithium at the NAL site, facilitating a significant improvement in plant performance and economics.
In 2018, NAL produced 114,000 tonnes of spodumene against a nameplate capacity of 180,000 tonnes. The operation also has the potential to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate with the necessary investment.
Production at NAL was halted early last year, and in May the Québec Superior Court ended creditor protection, inviting bids for the company’s assets.
Sayona’s Authier project, on its own, is expected to produce 87,400 tonnes of spodumene per year over a mine life of 18 years, with the project expected to cost C$83.6 million to develop.
“Today’s submission is an important step not only for Sayona and NAL, but also for the Québec government’s plans to develop a sustainable and profitable lithium industry,” managing director Brett Lynch said in a media release.
