The Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) share price is trading higher on Thursday morning.
At the time of writing, the lithium developer's shares are up 1% to 26 cents.
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Why is the Sayona Mining share price rising?
Investors have been bidding the Sayona Mining share price higher following the release of an update on the company's 75% owned North American Lithium (NAL) operation in Quebec, Canada.
According to the release, the company has further advanced the restart of production at NAL, with construction, procurement, recruitment and other activities progressing amid growing demand for lithium.
Management highlights that NAL's restart is on track for the first quarter of 2023, with permitting applications and procurement both 96% complete as at the end of September.
Construction activities are also continuing, with the installation of the HP300 and HP400 Cone Crushers almost complete and the Wet High Intensity Magnetic Separator (WHIMS) now fully assembled.
The company has also been busy bolstering the management team of NAL with the recent appointment of Yves Desrosiers as interim general manager. In addition, Guy Belleau has been appointed in a president role and Sylvain Collard as chief operating officer for Sayona Quebec.
'The first North American local producer'
Sayona's managing director, Brett Lynch, was pleased with the progress the company is making at NAL. Particularly given how demand for lithium is growing in North America. He commented:
It is pleasing to see the continued progress at NAL as we advance towards the restart of production in the first quarter of 2023. Lithium demand from North America and globally continues to increase and Québec is well placed to deliver, with NAL set to become the first North American local producer next year and with further value‐ adding planned as we move into downstream processing.
