Piedmont has 3 highly prospective Lithium bearing pegmatite properties being their Core , Central , and Sunnyside deposits.
And they are ALL of course along strike and in the geological zone referred to as the TSB ( Tin- Spodumene Belt ) and which is considered as hosting one of the 3 largest lithium bearing pegmatite deposits in the World which is found in the Kings Mountain District and is also home to the long standing operations of Albemarle and Livent.
So I agree that there could be an element of ' Monopoly ' price busting and longer term security sought by Tesla and Elon given this area of BOTH Tin and Lithium are also strategically located in what is often referred to as America's " Auto Alley "
So we all know how strategically important Tin has also become in regards to the technical advances being made in EV battery technologies .....and so it is probably no mistake if you were looking for OTHER reasons as to WHY Tesla would choose Piedmont Lithium over others, it is perhaps this added potential benefit or " exploration ' upside slash By-Product potential.
And while I am no geologist , and Piedmont has been relatively hush hush if not completely silent regarding the presence of any TIN in its findings , its significant deposit potential of other mineral credits in itself would be ample reasons in meeting Tesla's key criteria in having the lowest possible cost of production filtering through to its lower cost and higher efficient technologies and end products.
So one only has to do a bit of investigating to see that their 3 deposits as depicted in the THREE attached maps are exactly along strike and in nearology to the already existing TIN finds by Albemarle & Co.
And even a tiny bit of look into the geological connections with some of Piedmont's announced By-Products will reveal this as a real possibility over the 25 year projected LOM and further exploration cycle.
Cassiterite (SnO2) is the primary ore of Tin and is found in hydrothermal veins and pegmatites associated with granite intrusions
Tin, as cassiterite, having a low melting point is one of the last metals to come out of solution into a vuggy quartz rich crystal mesh called a greisen.
Greisen, commonly, are granitoid rocks in which >90% of the feldspar is replaced by quartz, mica, topaz, cassiterite and other minerals.
Greisen, sometimes capped by pegmatite, forms near the roof of some granite plutons, and commonly hosts workable - though not always currently economic - Sn - W - Mo ore bodies.
The type of metal deposit correlates closely with the type of granite and the source rocks from which the magma formed.
So it would seem irrespective of whether they have TIN in their deposits or not , there is still significant scope for a much reduced cost of their Production as can be seen in some of their previously published data and comments ( refer below )
So I guess there is a lot to like about this project from the eyes of Tesla , and even Livent who is was previously significantly owned by FMC before the spin out still maintains the Center for Lithium Energy Advanced Research lab in Bessemer City as well as its processing facility which is only 14 kilometers from Piedmont's Project. So I feel as though these are some of the more finite reasons Tesla picked Piedmont - and so they must be similar ' mandated ' reasons as to why Piedmont picked Sayona....or indeed Tesla would pick Sayona ( which is unsubstantiated at this time ).
And I have only suggested the it will be MANDATORY for Tesla to take a stake in Sayona's plans .....simply based on the high level of competing bids , and in particular coming from potentially the Wall Street backed Muppets Brigade.
- The project also has a by-product resource of 16.19 million tonnes of ore grading30.1 percent quartz, 43.9 percent feldspar and 4.5 percent mica, three by-products which are expected to provide significant revenue for Piedmont.
" In September 2018, Piedmont Lithium released a by-product mineral resource estimate for the by-product quartz, feldspar and mica mineral products from the spodumene-bearing pegmatite the Core property. The report outlined a total resource of 16.19 million tonnes of ore grading 30.1 percent quartz, 43.9 percent feldspar and 4.5 percent mica. "
" The industrial minerals included in the resource could potentially provide an additional revenue stream for the company due to its proximity to the mid-Atlantic industrial corridor located in Charlotte. Piedmont Lithium is currently in initial offtake conversations with leading market participants for its by-product offerings. To date, Piedmont Lithium has signed an LOI with Ion Carbon & Minerals LLC, a division of AMCI Group, to market the by-products Piedmont plans to offer to end-users. "
(20min delay)