Piedmont Lithium Inc. (Piedmont Lithium) operates as a U.S.-based, development-stage company advancing a multi-asset, integrated lithium business in the support of a clean energy economy and the U.S. and global energy security.
The company’s plan to supply lithium hydroxide to the electric vehicle and battery manufacturing supply chains in North America by processing spodumene concentrate produced from assets it owns or in which the company have an economic interest.
The company’s portfolio in...
Piedmont Lithium Inc. (Piedmont Lithium) operates as a U.S.-based, development-stage company advancing a multi-asset, integrated lithium business in the support of a clean energy economy and the U.S. and global energy security.
The company’s plan to supply lithium hydroxide to the electric vehicle and battery manufacturing supply chains in North America by processing spodumene concentrate produced from assets it owns or in which the company have an economic interest.
The company’s portfolio includes its wholly owned Carolina Lithium, a proposed fully integrated spodumene ore-to-lithium hydroxide project in Gaston County, North Carolina. The balance of the company’s project portfolio includes strategic investments in lithium assets in Quebec, Canada, including the operational NAL mine; in Ghana, West Africa with Atlantic Lithium, including the Ewoyaa project; and in Newfoundland, Canada with Vinland Lithium, including the Killick Lithium project.
Strategy
The company’s plan is to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide from spodumene concentrate. The company plans to develop its greenfield operation in North Carolina as one of the most sustainable lithium hydroxide production operations in the world.
Developing an Integrated Lithium Production Business—Key Projects
Quebec
Piedmont Lithium owns an equity interest of 25% in Sayona Quebec Inc. (Sayona Quebec), which owns full equity interests in the NAL (North American Lithium Inc.), Authier (Authier Lithium project), Tansim (Tansim Lithium project), and Vallee (Vallée Lithium project) properties. These projects are located in the Abitibi region of Quebec, Canada. The company also holds an offtake agreement with Sayona Quebec for the greater of 113,000 dmt per year or 50% of annual spodumene concentrate production at market prices.
In February 2024, the company sold approximately 1,250 million shares of Sayona Mining. The shares sold represented approximately 12% of Sayona Mining’s outstanding shares. The sale of these shares has no impact on Piedmont Lithium’s joint venture or offtake rights with Sayona Quebec.
Sayona Mining achieved record production for the one-year period ended December 31, 2024, producing 193,162 dmt, of which 116,700 dmt were delivered to Piedmont Lithium in accordance with the company’s offtake agreement. The company, in turn, sold 116,700 dmt to its customers to whom the company supplies through offtake and purchase agreements, all of which contain market-based pricing mechanisms. The company utilized an updated commercial strategy in the second half of 2024 to take advantage of lithium futures markets, resulting in an industry-leading realized spodumene concentrate price in the third and fourth quarters of 2024. Improved profitability was also the result of consolidation of shipments with Sayona Quebec, which reduced transportation costs. NAL completed construction of its tailing’s storage facility in the first quarter of 2024 and a crushed-ore dome in the second quarter of 2024. The completion of the dome contributed to the achievement of steady-state production in the second quarter of 2024 and is expected to be key in achieving full run-rate production throughput at NAL, thereby allowing for improved overall availability in the operation and resulting in meaningfully lower unit production costs. Increased blasting efficiencies and dilution management were utilized to deliver higher grades of ore to the plant in the second half of 2024.
In the third quarter of 2024, Sayona Mining announced an increase to the mineral resource estimate at NAL, including an increase to the mineral resources in the measured and indicated categories in accordance with JORC Code requirements.
Ghana
As of December 31, 2024, the company had the ability to earn a 50% equity interest in Atlantic Lithium Ghana, which includes Ewoyaa. In August 2023, the company exercised its option, to acquire an initial 22.5% equity interest, and expect to earn an additional 27.5% equity interest, subject to funding of development for Ewoyaa. Once the company’s equity interests are acquired, and if both the mining lease is ratified and the agreement with MIIF is executed, Piedmont Lithium and Atlantic Lithium expect to each own a 40.5% equity interest in Ewoyaa. MIIF is expected to own a 6% equity interest in Ewoyaa, with the Government of Ghana expected to obtain a 13% free-carried interest in accordance with the mining lease. As of December 31, 2024, the company had not received any shares in Atlantic Lithium Ghana.
Additionally, the company holds an offtake agreement for 50% of annual production of spodumene concentrate from Ewoyaa at market prices on a life-of-mine basis, subject to its satisfaction of certain development cost funding requirements. Ewoyaa is Atlantic Lithium’s flagship project in the Cape Coast region of Ghana and located approximately 70 miles from the Port of Takoradi, a major port via a national highway. The company anticipates the development of the Ewoyaa project to be key for delivering spodumene concentrate to the market.
In January 2024, MIIF commenced its investment in Atlantic Lithium through its purchase of Atlantic Lithium’s common stock. In September 2023, Atlantic Lithium had announced that MIIF plans to invest (i) to acquire a 6% stake in Ewoyaa and (ii) in Atlantic Lithium’s common stock to help further, in part, the development of Ewoyaa. As part of these investments, it is the company’s understanding that MIIF intends to fund 6% of all future exploration and development costs within Atlantic Lithium Ghana. These funds are expected to equally reduce Piedmont Lithium’s and Atlantic Lithium’s capital expenditure contributions for Ewoyaa.
In January 2024, the company sold 24.5 million shares of Atlantic Lithium, after which it retained shares representing approximately a 5% ownership interest.
Carolina Lithium
Carolina Lithium is a development stage, hard rock lithium project located within the renowned Carolina Tin-Spodumene Belt of North Carolina and in close proximity to lithium markets. Carolina Lithium is expected to consist of a mining operation, a concentrator, and a lithium hydroxide conversion plant. The conversion plant is expected to be developed in phases and produce 60,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide per year at full capacity.
The company received the mining permit for Carolina Lithium in 2024 and continue to engage in permitting activities with state and local agencies. In August 2021, the company submitted a mining permit application to the NCDEQ’s DEMLR. Following the company’s submission, it responded to a series of additional information requests made by DEMLR. In April 2024, DEMLR approved the mining permit application and issued the finalized permit in May 2024 following the company’s posting of the required reclamation bond. A Prevention of Significant Deterioration – Title V Air Permit application was submitted to the NCDEQ Division of Air Quality and deemed complete in February 2023 and remains under review. The company previously worked with the NCDEQ Division of Water Resources on a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for the site; however, the company recently pivoted toward pursuit of North Carolina General Stormwater permits instead. As a result, the company has withdrawn its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit applications and submitted applications required to obtain North Carolina General Stormwater permits for both the conversion plant, as well as the mine and concentrator operations.
Tennessee Lithium
Following the receipt of the company’s Carolina Lithium state mining permit in the second quarter of 2024, and in response to changing market conditions, it consolidated the company’s U.S. project development strategy by shifting the proposed Tennessee Lithium conversion capacity to Carolina Lithium. The updated strategy is designed to deploy capital and technical resources more efficiently and leverage the company’s foundational North Carolina project with the potential for up to 60,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide production per year.
In 2024, the company exited both its option agreement to purchase the proposed site for Tennessee Lithium and the company’s purchase agreement to acquire an existing industrial facility in close proximity to its proposed Tennessee project site. The company maintains in care and maintenance a 132-acre disposal facility adjacent to the former proposed Tennessee Lithium site, with the intention to sell the property in due time.
Marketing, Sales, and Principal Markets
The company continues to explore potential strategic partnerships and sales, offtake, and marketing agreements that will benefit the development of its assets, as well as the U.S. electric vehicle supply chain.
Customers
On August 30, 2024, the company entered into an amended offtake agreement with Tesla, Inc. to supply 125,000 dmt of spodumene concentrate from NAL.
On February 16, 2023, the company entered a spodumene concentrate offtake agreement with LG Chem to sell 200,000 dmt of spodumene concentrate from its NAL offtake agreement.
Government Regulations
In November 2019, the company was granted a Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 Standard Individual Permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its integrated Carolina Lithium project. The company received an updated preliminary jurisdictional determination in March 2022 based on an updated footprint of the integrated site.
In July 2022, the received an updated CWA Section 401 Individual Water Quality Certificate from the NCDEQ Division of Water Resources for its Carolina Lithium project.
In August 2021, the company submitted a mining permit application to the NCDEQ’s DEMLR. Since the company’s submission, it has responded to a series of additional information requests made by DEMLR. In March 2024, the company responded to the last round of DEMLR additional information requests which resulted in Piedmont’s application being approved with the final permit received in May 2024.
In September 2021, the Gaston County Board of Commissioners updated its Unified Development Ordinance which, in part, defines operational requirements for new mines and quarries in the county and provides the parameters for the requisite conditional district zoning.
The company holds a Synthetic Minor Construction and Operation Permit issued by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ)’s Division of Air Quality for its property in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.
In January 2022, the company submitted a determination request to NCDEQ’s Division of Air Quality in connection with Carolina Lithium. In March 2022, the company received a response to this request informing it that Carolina Lithium would require a Title V Permit. In August 2022, the company submitted its Title V Permit application, which was deemed complete in February 2023 and is subject to ongoing review.
The company previously worked with the NCDEQ Division of Water Resources on a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for the site; however, it recently pivoted toward pursuit of North Carolina General Stormwater permits instead. As a result, the company have withdrawn its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit applications and submitted applications required to obtain North Carolina General Stormwater permits for both the conversion plant, as well as the mine and concentrator operations.
The material environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations that it must comply with include, among others, the following U.S. federal laws and regulations:
National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), which requires careful evaluation of the environmental impacts of mining and lithium manufacturing operations that require federal approvals;
Clean Air Act and its amendments, which govern air emissions;
CWA, which governs discharges to and excavations within the waters of the U.S.;
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which governs the management of solid waste;
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), which imposes liability where hazardous substances have been released into the environment (commonly known as Superfund); and
Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, which established the primary safety and health standards regarding working conditions of employees engaged in mining, related operations, and preparation and milling of the minerals extracted, as well as the Occupation Safety and Health Act, which regulates the protection of the health and safety of workers in lithium manufacturing operations.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and comparable state statutes, affect the company’s operations by imposing regulations on the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, disposal, and cleanup of hazardous wastes and on the disposal of non-hazardous wastes.
Equity Method Investment Projects
Sayona Quebec
As of December 31, 2024, the company owned a 25% equity interest in Sayona Quebec.
Offtake Agreement
In January 2021, the company entered into a long-term offtake agreement with Sayona Quebec. Under the terms of the offtake supply agreement, Sayona Quebec will supply Piedmont Lithium the greater of 113,000 dmt per year or 50% of Sayona Quebec’s spodumene concentrate production from the combination of NAL and the Authier project.
Vinland Lithium
As of December 31, 2024, the company owned an equity interest of approximately 19.9% in Vinland Lithium, which is a Canadian-based entity which owns Killick Lithium, the owner of a large exploration property prospective for lithium located in southern Newfoundland, Canada.
Offtake and Project Agreement
In October 2023, the company entered into an earn-in agreement with Vinland Lithium to acquire up to a 62.5% equity interest in Killick Lithium through staged-investments. As part of the company’s investment, it entered into a marketing agreement with Killick Lithium for 100% marketing rights and right of first refusal to purchase 100% of all lithium products produced by Killick Lithium on a life-of-mine basis at competitive commercial rates.
Equity Method Investment Properties
Quebec Properties
Sayona Quebec’s assets consist of four wholly owned projects as follows: NAL, which restarted production in 2023, the Authier project, which is in the development stage, and Tansim and Vallee, which are both in the exploration stage. Additionally, Sayona Quebec entered into a joint-venture agreement with Jourdan Resources Inc. to jointly develop additional Vallee claims, which are also in the exploration stage.
Authier
Authier is located approximately 28 miles northwest of the city of Val-d’Or. Val-d’Or is located approximately 290 miles northwest of the city of Montreal. Authier is easily accessible by a rural road network that is connected to a national highway a few miles east of the project site. The project area consists of 24 mineral claims totaling 2,184 acres and directionally extends 2.6 miles east-west and 2.1 miles north-south. The mineral claims are located over Crown Lands, which is land owned by the Province of Quebec.
Tansim
Tansim is situated 51 miles south-west of Authier. Tansim consists of 355 mineral claims spanning 50,749 acres and is prospective for lithium, tantalum, and beryllium.
Vallee
Vallee is located in Abitibi, Quebec, near the township of La Corne and consists of 48 claims covering approximately 4,934 acres, closely neighboring the NAL mine tenure with 20 claims located within 550 yards of the NAL mine boundary.
The project is situated within the heart of the southern portion of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt, some 62 miles northeast of the mining towns of Rouyn-Noranda, 28 miles north of Val-d’Or, 31 miles northeast of Malartic (home to the Canadian-Malartic Mine), 19 miles southeast of Amos and contiguous and in proximity to RB Energy’s Quebec Lithium Property and adjacent to the NAL mine.
Newfoundland
Killick Lithium
Killick Lithium is an exploration stage project operated by Sokoman Minerals and Benton Resources that consists of 3,146 claims totaling approximately 234,748 acres, accessible by the Burgeo Highway in southwestern Newfoundland.
Ghana
Ewoyaa Lithium Project
The company has a strategic partnership with Atlantic Lithium that includes Atlantic Lithium Ghana’s flagship Ewoyaa project. Under the company’s partnership, it entered into a project agreement to acquire a 50% equity interest in Atlantic Lithium Ghana in two phases, with each phase requiring the company to make future staged investments in Ewoyaa over a period of time in order to earn its additional equity interest. The company completed Phase 1 of its investment in mid-2023, which allows the company to acquire a 22.5% equity interest in Atlantic Lithium Ghana, by funding Ewoyaa’s exploration activities and DFS costs and notifying Atlantic Lithium of its intention to proceed with additional funding contemplated under Phase 2, which mainly consists of construction and development activities for Ewoyaa.
Material Individual Properties
The company categorizes Carolina Lithium and NAL as material individual properties under S-K 1300.
Material Individual Property - Carolina Lithium
The company holds a 100% interest in Carolina Lithium which is located approximately 25 miles northwest of Charlotte, North Carolina in the U.S.
As of December 31, 2024, Carolina Lithium, was consisted of real property and associated mineral rights totaling approximately 3,482 acres, of which approximately:
219 parcels consisting of 2,907 acres are owned;
1 parcel consisting of 113 acres is subject to long-term leases; and
36 parcels consisting of 462 acres are subject to exclusive option agreements. These exclusive option agreements, upon exercise, allow the company to purchase, or in some cases, enter into long-term lease agreements for the real property and associated mineral rights.
The company generally controls all the surface and mineral rights for Carolina Lithium under applicable agreements. It also owns real property totaling 5 acres in Bessemer City, North Carolina, where the company leases a warehouse for core samples from Carolina Lithium; and 61 acres in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, where the company holds a synthetic minor air permit, and which was the subject of prior technical studies for a planned lithium hydroxide conversion facility.
Material Individual Property - NAL
NAL is consisted of 19 contiguous claims covering 1,438 acres and one mining lease covering approximately 1,729 acres. NAL is situated in La Corne township in Quebec’s Abitibi region. The project is located approximately 20 miles from Authier near Val-d’Or, a major mining city in Quebec.
History
Piedmont Lithium Inc. was founded in 2016. The company was incorporated in 2020.
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