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- Junior lithium miner Sayona Mining (SYA) has once more extended its bid for a Québec lithium mine as it tries to ride the coattails of recent ASX lithium success
- The company is touting the importance its North American lithium assets following Telsa’s major supply deal with fellow-ASX listed Piedmont Lithium
- The Tesla news comes not long after the Canadian government announced a massive $1.9 billion investment into its electric vehicle sector
- However, amid the exciting talk of the lithium future was news of yet another delay for Sayona’s bid for North American Lithium (NAL)
- Sayona submitted a bid for the company in February, but administrators have no delayed the process again until the end of October
- Shares in Sayona are trading grey this afternoon and currently worth one cent each
Sayona Mining (SYA) has once more extended its bid for a Québec lithium mine as it tries to ride the coattails of recent ASX lithium success.
The company highlighted fellow ASX-listed Piedmont Lithium’s (PLL) supply deal with electric vehicle giant Telsa to showcase the importance of the lithium market today.
Sayona on solid ground
Piedmont shares have more-than-doubled in the four days since the Telsa deal was announced, and it seems Sayona is hoping the sudden enhanced focus on lithium will put some attention on its Canadian lithium assets.
“Tesla is developing a North American supply chain with its agreement to source local supplies of spodumene together with potentially nickel and other key battery metals,” Sayona Managing Director Brett Lynch said.
Brett stressed the importance of spodumene being confirmed as Telsa’s preferred feedstock for lithium hydroxide.
“For Sayona, these moves are significant as they reinforce Québec’s position as one of the most economical, environmentally sustainable and strategic suppliers of spodumene to the North American battery market,” Brett said.
The Tesla news comes not long after the Canadian government announced a massive $1.9 billion investment into its electric vehicle sector, which includes an entire industrial chain, as part of its COVID-19 economic recovery plan.
Like with the announcement of the government support, Sayona is using the Tesla news to tout its position in the North American lithium market.
Bidding delays
However, tucked between the exciting talk of the lithium future was news of yet another delay for Sayona’s bid for North American Lithium (NAL).
“Concerning Sayona’s bid for NAL, monitor Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton has requested a further extension to the end of October, which Sayona has accepted,” the company said.
Sayona first expressed interest in bidding for NAL in September 2019 but has had the bidding process delayed several times since then.
Bids were initially required to be lodged by January 21, 2020, but this was delayed by a month by NAL’s administrator, Raymond Chabot Inc.
Sayona submitted an official bid in February — one which it said it was confident would be successful — but Raymond Chabot then requested the bid stay open until mid-June as the monitor requested more extensions.
Then, citing COVID-19 struggles, the bidding process was extended once more, and so on and so forth until today’s news that the new deadline is the end of October.
Sayona seems to be staying in high spirits, but it’s likely investors are getting frustrated at the administrator’s constant delays.
Shares in Sayona are trading sideways today, grey at 2:26 pm AEST and worth one cent each. The company has a $29.43 million market cap.
