S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) lithium share Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) is up 2.88% in late morning trade.
Shares in the emerging lithium stock closed yesterday at 26 cents and are currently trading for 26.75 cents apiece.
This comes following the release of the company's quarterly update for the three months ending 31 December.
What did Sayona Mining report?
The Sayona Mining share price is well in the green today after the ASX 200 lithium share said the restart of its flagship North American Lithium (NAL) project has accelerated towards first production.
Initial lithium production at NAL – based in Quebec, Canada – is expected late in the first quarter of 2023.
The miner said it had received all the critical equipment and required environmental approvals needed for the restart by the end of December. Progress towards the concentrator restart was reported to have reached nearly 90%.
In the new year, the ASX 200 lithium share revealed it successfully processed 400 tonnes of spodumene ore on 16 January as part of the concentrator commissioning. The company labelled this "a new milestone in the restart process at NAL".
During the quarter, Sayona also launched a pre-feasibility study (PFS) on the potential to produce lithium carbonate at NAL.
Should that go through, Sayona will do so together with its partner Piedmont Lithium Inc (NASDAQ: PLL) The PFS results are expected in April. Sayona noted that NAL already has half of the facilities required to produce lithium carbonate, thanks to the partial construction of those facilities by the prior owners.
Atop providing updates on its range of other lithium projects, Sayona hasn't thrown in the towel on gold.
Sayona said its 10 Pilbara gold leases are "prospective for intrusion‐related gold mineralisation, similar in style to that identified at the Hemi gold discovery".
The miner said it will employ its experience with late‐stage intrusions, built up in the search for pegmatite mineralisation, "to fast‐track identification of Hemi‐style targets".
As for the balance sheet, total available funding at the end of the quarter was roughly $291 million. Sayona estimates this is sufficient to fund 3.5 quarters of operations.
How has this ASX 200 lithium share been tracking?
Sayona Mining has been on a tear in 2023. Since the closing bell on 30 December, the ASX 200 lithium share has gained a whopping 43%.
As you can see in the chart below, over the past 12 months the Sayona Mining share price has more than doubled, up 109%.
