The Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) share price is rising strongly this morning after the lithium and graphite miner released its June quarter report.
Sayona Mining shares are currently up 4.83% to 15.2 cents.
The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is also in the green today, up 0.4% in early trading.
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Sayona Mining share price rebounding off 52-week low
Sayona Mining shares hit a new 52-week low of 14 cents per share on Friday amid weakening lithium prices and falling stock values for the major lithium miners on Wall Street.
So, today's rebound is welcome news for investors.
Let's review the highlights of Sayona's June quarter report:
- Total ore mined 227,171 tonnes, up 104% quarter-over-quarter (qoq)
- Spodumene concentrate of 29,610 tonnes, up 744% qoq
- Cash balance $211.2 million, up 115% qoq.
A continuing operational ramp-up at Sayona Mining's flagship North American Lithium (NAL) project in Québec, Canada resulted in record spodumene concentrate production of 29,610 tonnes.
The ramp-up followed the successful restart of the concentrator in the March quarter. This enabled a full quarter of mining operations in June and a 104% bump in production.
The average spodumene concentrate grade achieved for the quarter was in line with targeted grades, with all key spodumene concentrate parameters in line with offtake specifications.
For the FY23 full year, NAL recorded 33,120 tonnes of spodumene concentrate production. This is ahead of schedule. The average grade is 5.48% Li2O.
On 30 May 2023, the first official railcar shipment departed the train station in Val d'Or for port.
Sayona Mining has now stockpiled a total of 28,473 tonnes of spodumene concentrate at the port ahead of the first planned shipment to customers.
What else happened during the quarter?
A finalised Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for the combined NAL and Authier Lithium Project confirmed an increased pre-tax net present value (NPV) of $2.2 billion.
This represented a big increase on the pre-feasibility study (PFS) released to the market in May 2022.
A finalised preliminary technical study for lithium carbonate production at NAL revealed a standalone pre-tax NPV of $3.2 billion and a combined NAL pre-tax NPV exceeding $5 billion.
The company also announced a major resource expansion for its Moblan Lithium Project to 51.4 million tonnes at 1.31% Li2O. This made the project "one of North America's single largest lithium resources".
In Western Australia, Sayona began a reverse circulation drilling program at the Morella Lithium Joint Venture Project. Sayona intersected pegamites at 18 out of 35 drill holes at a total depth of 2,200 metres.
During the June quarter, Sayona Mining also completed a $200 million equity placement.
The capital raise had an offer price of 18 cents per share. The funds will be used to accelerate operations.
What did management say?
Sayona Mining managing director and CEO Brett Lynch said:
The ramp-up towards nameplate production at NAL has continued to perform ahead of expectations, with record spodumene concentrate production achieved for the quarter.
This has laid the groundwork for NAL's concentrate to be stockpiled at the port, ahead of the first shipment to customers which is planned for Q1 FY24.
Sayona will be advancing towards downstream processing as quickly as possible, supporting Québec's clean energy future.
Falling lithium prices a headwind for Sayona Mining shares
Weakening lithium prices are a headwind for all ASX lithium shares right now.
The battery-grade lithium carbonate price is US$38,917.33.
This is well down on its record high of almost US$85,000 in November 2022, but up from its 18-month low of US$23,400 reached in April this year.
The fall since November is mainly due to China ceasing electric vehicle subsidies earlier this year.
Sayona Mining share price snapshot
The All Ords is up 7.15% in the year to date, while the Sayona Mining share price is down 20%.
