Toronto, Ontario — All eyes are on Quebec in this weekly Ticker as Sayona Mining positions itself as the sole Canadian supplier of lithium—for the time being. Meanwhile, Montreal-based Lion Electric announces a stock offering with hopes to expand factories.
First-of-its-kind lithium mine
A lithium mine in Quebec will soon be the only Canadian site mining the material used in EV batteries, following regulatory approval from Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
The Australian-based Sayona Mining Ltd. is set to open a pit mine near Val-d’Or in northwestern Quebec.
“Sayona will become the only producer of lithium concentrate in Quebec and Canada,” said Annie Blier, vice president of the environment at Sayona Quebec. “This is a very promising position for our region, which puts us at the forefront of the emerging energy transition.”
Sayona says it received 130+ permits from regulators—both federal and provincial. The company first purchased the project in 2021, working with American Piedmont Lithium Inc. to form a joint venture; Sayona Quebec.
Sayona owns three-quarters of the venture; Piedmont, the remainder.
The two companies first agreed to invest in the mine in June 2018, spending $98 million to restart and upgrade the mine. Previous operations at the site, spearheaded by a different company, were started in 2018. Operations were later halted due to low lithium prices, but not before the original owner sunk $400 million into the project.
An agreement between the companies will also see Piedmont purchase a minimum of 113,000 tonnes per year of spodumene concentrate, totalling 65 percent of its production, the American company’s CEO told Automotive News Canada.
Sayona also said it is forming plans for the processing of lithium concentrate, destined for integration in EV batteries.
Leave room for Lion
In other Quebec EV news, Montreal-based electric bus and cargo truck maker Lion Electric (TSE:LEV) is planning a US$50 million stock offering, with a goal to expand its factories.
The company says it plans to net about US$47 million from the offering after underwriters claim a fee of US$3.25 million. Canadian and U.S. underwriters National Bank Financial and B. Riley Securities are floating 19.7 million shares at US$2.54 apiece.
The company is planning to the funds to expand factories in Joliet, Ill. and Mirabel, Que. Lion Electric first opened its Mirabel factory a year ago; the province and Canadian government invested $100 million into the project. The Joliet site was first announced in May 2021.
Lion Electric has raised US$222.4 over four funding rounds since its IPO in May 2021 at US$10 per share.
Shares of the company are down 79 percent year-to-date, trading at $2.62 a share as of Dec. 19 at 11 a.m. ET.
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