Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) shares are having a relatively positive session.
At the time of writing, the lithium miner's shares are flat at 3.5 cents.
This compares favourably to many of other ASX lithium stocks today.
For example, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) shares are down 1.5%, Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) shares have tumbled 3%, and Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) shares are almost 4% lower.
Why are Sayona Mining shares outperforming?
It appears that the release of an announcement this morning has given investor sentiment a boost and kept the lithium miner's shares above water.
According to the release, the results from 36 new drillholes totalling 8,803 metres at its 75% owned North American Lithium (NAL) operation in Quebec, Canada, are demonstrating "the high-grade nature of this strategic asset."
The company notes that all the drilling results from the 2023 exploration program are now complete, validated, and released. Furthermore, the first results from the 2024 exploration drilling program, which is currently underway, are now being reported.
Management believes the 2023 drill program has been successful in demonstrating the potential to increase the mineral resource base at NAL. It highlights that it was designed to test extensions to mineralisation and provide in-fill data for the upgrade of mineral resource categories.
The latest drilling results include the identification of high-grade lithium mineralisation outside the mineral resource estimate (MRE) pit shells. This is particularly the case in the North-West and South-East extensions. It feels this supports the potential conversion of some of the inferred resources to indicated category within the MRE pit shells.
'Superb quality'
Sayona Mining's interim CEO, James Brown, appeared to be very pleased with the strong drilling results. He commented:
We are delighted to have another strong set of drilling results from North American Lithium which continue to highlight the superb quality of this mine. The results reported today have shown that mineralisation continues outside of the existing MRE pit shells so the next key step will be to complete a recalculation of the MRE to include recent drilling. Additionally, we will also complete a further 30,000 metres of drilling throughout 2024 to better understand the full potential of the NAL mineralisation.
The news hasn't been enough to prop up the shares of Piedmont Lithium Inc (ASX: PLL), which owns the remaining 25% interest in the NAL project. Its shares are down 3% to 15 cents at the time of writing.
The shares of both Sayona Mining and Piedmont Lithium remain down over 80% on a 12-month basis.
