The Piedmont Lithium Ltd (ASX: PLL) share price is pushing higher on Thursday.
In morning trade, the US-based lithium developer's shares are up 1.5% to 91 cents.
This latest gain means the Piedmont Lithium share price is now up 146% since the start of the year.
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Why is the Piedmont Lithium share price rising?
Investors have been buying Piedmont Lithium's shares after it provided an update on its flagship project in North Carolina.
According to the release, the company has updated the mineral resource estimate for the Piedmont Lithium Project, resulting in a 40% increase in lithium resources.
The release explains that the total mineral resource estimate for the project is now 39.2 Mt at 1.09% lithium oxide. Of this, 55% or 21.6 Mt is currently classified in the indicated category.
This makes the Piedmont Lithium Project one of the largest spodumene resources in the North American market. Importantly, it will be the largest in the United States.
Management commentary
Piedmont Lithium's President and CEO, Keith D. Phillips, said: "Increasing the scale of our North Carolina mineral resource to 39.2 Mt at 1.09% Li2O establishes our asset as one of the largest spodumene resources in North America – and the only one in the United States."
"The expanded resource offers the potential for increased annual lithium production, something we will evaluate as we prepare our updated Scoping Study for release next month."
"All this is coming together at an ideal time, as the public and private sectors dramatically increase their investment in the electrification of America. Given the scope and strategic location of our Piedmont Lithium Project, we believe we are ideally positioned to play a critical role in helping the United States build a clean economy and a U.S. based EV supply chain."
