The dfs timeline as addressed almost immediately by JB at the start of the announcement:
Sayona’s Interim CEO, James Brown commented: “We are delighted by the results of this DFS, which demonstrate that the Moblan Lithium Project is an incredibly strategic and valuable asset for Sayona, representing one of the single largest hard rock lithium resources in North America. “Forming the centrepiece of our northern lithium hub, Moblan has an extremely bright future supplying Québec-produced lithium derivatives into the expanding North American battery and EV sector. “Moblan has an amenable ore body that will deliver product from an integrated process of both dense medium separation (DMS) and floatation circuits supported by ore sorting technology. The offset of delivering such high recoveries is an increase in capital intensity relative to simpler DMS plants. The high expected product recovery will benefit project economics and extend the life of mine. “The challenging market conditions of recent months highlight the importance of developing Tier 1 lithium projects that are strategically located near existing transport corridors and end markets and that have the potential to deliver high grade lithium concentrate at industry-low and competitive operating costs. Moblan is an exceptional project that meets these criteria and we look forward to applying Sayona’s extensive operational expertise to minimise costs and develop the Project as efficiently as possible. “We are confident that the current lithium market will recover over the medium term and enable Moblan to benefit from the long-term industry fundamentals to become a profitable long-lasting operation for the benefit of all stakeholders. ”Sayona will now look to review the timelines given the current market conditions, and continue to advance the necessary regulatory approvals, seek community support and secure the necessary financing and project partners capable of advancing this Project through to successful production, with the ultimate ambition to integrate Moblan into a regional supply chain for battery materials in Québec.”
You also have to then assess when this DFS was "done up" vs when it was presented to market. The fact the announcement has a slide titled "Market and lithium price" leading into it saying:
"Sayona has relied on the Q3 2023 price forecast from consultancy Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (‘BMI’) to assess the expected market balance for battery-grade lithium and pricing assumptions for the spodumene concentrate."
This to me would indicate that this dfs is almost 9 months old and its assessment of implementation done under very different market conditions. Spod spot price in Jan 2023 was the start of the fall. So even up to June 2023 (I estimate dfs finalised between Jan-June 2023) it would have been viable. But now, with lithium prices only just markedly above 1000USD/t as I said read Browns comments as they are at the time we get the announcement. The data again is delayed.
Though I expect this should hopefully be addressed under the strategic/cost review due end of month, amongst other things.
(20min delay)