The Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX) share price is rising this morning. This comes as Sayona Mining Limited (ASX: SYA) shared news it has partnered with Novonix to test the miner's high-purity lithium hydroxide. Sayona states samples from its Authier Lithium Project have the potential to deliver a minimum of 99.97% purity lithium hydroxide.
Today's news comes as the developer and supplier of lithium-ion battery's share price finish a month of generally poor performance. Even with today's gains, it's down 19.93% since 1 March.
At the time of writing, the Novonix share price is up 7.41%, trading at $2.32.
Here's what we know about the Novonix share price today.
Today's news of Novonix
Today, Sayona announced it has partnered with Novonix. The aim of this partnership is to test its high-purity lithium hydroxide and, hopefully, develop batteries for electric vehicles.
Under agreements made by Sayono, spodumene samples from Sayona's flagship Authier Lithium Project will be processed into lithium hydroxide. This will be conducted by Australian hydroxide technology provider ICS Lithium. Furthermore, it will use the ICS closed-loop refining system. Novonix will then test its conformity with lithium-ion battery standards and its performance against commercial battery products.
Sayona is aiming for the tests to highlight the Authier Project's ability to deliver a minimum 99.97% lithium hydroxide product. This is suitable for leading battery cathode makers.
Testing by Novonix will begin in May. Additionally, testing will include the development of a battery cell based on Authier's lithium product.
The month that's been for Novonix
Novonix ended February having just completed a $115 million placement to fund an increase of production of anode materials to 10,000 tonnes per year. It was also to go towards the research and development of its cathode and other battery technologies. As well as pursuing international growth opportunities and covering corporate costs.
The placement was announced on 25 February and finalised the following day. As a result, in the first trading week of March, the Novonix share price drop 18%.
Though March brought plenty of positive news from Novonix, its share price never managed to fully recover.
First, it shared the good news of testing for high-performance lithium-ion batteries using Lake Resources (ASX: LKE) 99.7% purity lithium carbonate.
Next, on 5 March the company announced it has entered into placement agreements with 4 of its directors, issuing new shares to their directors or their associates for $2.90 apiece. On the day this news came, the Novonix share price opened and closed for $2.40. Perhaps this over-cost placement reassured investors that the share price at the time was a particularly good deal. By the end of the following trading week, the Novonix share price had risen by 15%.
Finally, the company was added to the All Ordinary Index (ASX: XAO) on 12 March.
The Novonix share price has ended all but three trading days since then at a loss. It's dropped a total of 21.74%.
Novonix share price snapshot
While March wasn't kind to the Novonix share price, it's having a great year on the ASX. It's currently up 87.9% year to date. It is also a massive 1,065% up over the last 12 months.
The company has a market capitalisation of around $855 million, with approximately 396 million shares outstanding.
