Sayona Mining Limited has achieved a new milestone in the restart of lithium production at its North American Lithium operation in Québec, Canada, with a successful trial feed of ore into the crushing plant. On 16 January 2023, 400 tonnes of spodumene ore were successfully processed as part of the concentrator commissioning, an important step in the restart process at NAL. Each component of the crushing process (automation, electrical and mechanical) was checked and tested by the preoperational verification teams. This activity involved the NAL operational and maintenance teams and contractors.

The crushing process comprises the primary jaw crusher, secondary crusher and tertiary crusher, in addition to conveying equipment. As previously reported, progress towards the concentrator restart had reached nearly 90% by the end of December 2022 for engineering and construction, with all critical equipment received together with the necessary environmental approvals. For example, some 90% of the NAL workforce is from AbitibiTémiscamingue, of which a third are female.

Similarly, more than CAD 40 million has been invested with local suppliers since January 2022.