Sayona Mining and partner Piedmont Lithium say the companies have received the final permit needed to restart the mothballed North American Lithium operations in Quebec in early 2023, Kallanish reports.

That approval came from Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, paving the way for an expected restart of spodumene concentrate production in the first half of 2023. Shipments to customers could begin as early as third quarter 2023. Mine production is slated to begin in Q1 2023.

That would make the Quebec operation the only producer of lithium concentrate in the province and the only producer in Canada, the companies say. Piedmont Lithium will purchase 113,000 tonnes/year of spodumene concentrate or 50% of the NAL production.

NAL is 75% owned by Australia-based Sayona Mining and 25% by US-based Piedmont Lithium.

The permit was one of 130 needed from federal and provincial agencies to restart the mine and processing facilities at La Corne, Quebec. The companies had acquired the NAL facilities in August 2021. New equipment has been added. Restarting the NAL operations is expected to cost CAD 95.5 million ($70.3m). That cost is being shared by Sayona Mining and Piedmont Lithium. The two companies are also exploring options for downstream processing in order to capture further value in the EV battery sector.

The NAL mine would operate for 27 years. The mine has an estimated 29.2m t of ore reserves. Operations ended in 2017. The NAL facilities and the Authier project are the key elements in Sayona’s developing Abitibi lithium hub in southern Quebec. The company is developing a second lithium hub in northern Quebec.