So where are we supposed to send our spod in the next 2 years?
80% of the worlds spod gets refined in China.
The other 20% is producers/JV's refining THEIR OWN ore.
The refineries in Canada/US are not operational yet...
Very little 3rd party processing is done outside of China....
By the time we go into production Q1 2023, SC6 could be getting up near US$10,000/tonne. Where will it go???
Guy has hinted it will probably go to China....
Now SB has already pointed this out......So stop fluffing around Canada!!!
Give us a truckload of cash, fastrack the permitting and lets get our carbonate plant cranking..... with a bolt on hydroxide circuit....
And that includes Nemaska/ Livent at Whabouchi and their Becancour aspirations...
And if Australia followed suite, will that be a financial death sentence for PLS? Yes, they do have some refining capacity, but the majority of their spod goes to China.... and where does that leave Yibin?? And CXO....stuffed....And then Chinese reprisals.....
I understand we have a very good relationship with IQ and the wheels are definitely in motion in this regard...
We are well and truely front and centre, and there would be plans in the background being formulated.
This is part of the first mover advantage....
But to date, I have not been able to find any requests for funding by SYAQ to the Canadian or Quebec government, other than a minor grant that had been given by the quebec government for ongoing studies at NAL.
This is where Keith has excelled , secured government funding, and certainly beaten us to the punch.
And the carbonate/hydroxide PFS for NAL is part of that process, which we should have by March.
I think if we can show them solid, independantly verified figures from a respected 3rd party, we may see some funding come our way....
And dont worry about the PLL rhetoric. Their plan for NAL, as well as ours, was always to refine there.
Keith Phillips, chief executive of Piedmont Lithium, told the Financial Post that although his company has stakes in lithium mines, it wants to focus on the chemicals side of the business.
He also said the exact plan for how to develop Sayona Quebec’s assets remain unresolved, despite any pronouncements by Sayona.“Our view is it should all be developed as an integrated project,” said Phillips, “so there’s no use getting the mine up and running if you don’t have a chemical plant to put the material through.”
And as PLL's plans for integrated projects get pushed back by the usual delays, it looks like they will be relying more and more on NAL, as being that integrated solution. PLL's latest presentation even shows Ghana spod, being shipped to Quebec.....I wonder what for???wink wink...
Although, PLL's involvement with the Ghana project days are limited. The IRA will see to that. To be eligible 40% of a batterys minerals needs to be sourced in the US/friendly states, which then scales to 80% by 2027.....
So the may have to get Atlantic up and profitable, then sell it off...probably to the Chinese...
Page 386 of the act specifies the minimum thresholds of minerals contained in US-manufactured EV batteries to qualify for the tax credit. After passage of the act, at least 40% of critical minerals in US-made EV batteries must come US miners or recycling plants, or mines in countries with free trade deals with the US.
This requirement will then rise by 10% each calendar year, to a maximum of 80% in 2027.
Be careful what you wish for.
Controversial...I know.
For although I do agree in reducing the sole reliance on ANY country for a particular resource, there is still a role for China to play in the emerging EV revolution.
This worlds reliance on one country should NEVER have happened in the first place....and now we are all feeling the consequences of this,
and are scrambling to secure sovereign resources and their processing....
Long term , we know the plan...
As for where our SC6 will end up in the short term, like a lot of specifics about Sayona, its still all a guessing game...
If it cant go to China, are we are stuffed???
What do you guys think???
(20min delay)