I understand what you're saying mega and some great info and links for people here, the new mid stream products make a huge amount of sense to reduce the enormously inefficient process of transporting a less than 6% concentrate thousands of miles to another location to be refined. For these big aussie peoducers like PLS, MIN etc, imo makes massive sense and is the obvious solution if they do not want to get into the complexity of large scale refining within Australia.
However, for us at Sayona being already in North America where the intended battery and CAM factories will be located, as well as intending to be an actually intergrated downstream producer, this mid stream product makes absolutely no sense whatsover imo.
Why would we go to the enormous cost of producing both regular spodumene concentrate and continue to sell that to PLL at low margin, along with going to the massive expense of producing a mid stream product like lithium phosphate or salts etc, to then transport only a short distance in North America to someone else to have to refine to battery grade??? The benefits of a higher concentrate product are exponentially greater the further you need tl ship. Especially when we are actually already committed to going to the full downstream refining to either carbonate or hydroxide and we are committed to that with the Canadian Government, why would be convert to another product in between?
What you are suggesting makes no sense to be personally mate, we are in a very different situation and location that PLS, MIN, LTR etc etc.
I hope that makes sense, mid stream is no brainer for them you're absolutley right but is completely illogical for us and our current and intended set-up.
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