Mining News
U.S. focused lithium developer Piedmont boosts resources 40%
(Kitco News) - Piedmont Lithium announced Wednesday an updated global mineral resource estimate (“MRE”) for the company’s flagship Piedmont lithium project in North Carolina, USA, which includes updated estimates for the Core and Central properties and an initial mineral resource estimate for the Huffstetler property.
According to the company’s statement, the total MRE for the project is now 39.2 Mt at 1.09% Li2O, with 55% of the MRE currently classified in the Indicated category.
Piedmont said that exploration and infill drilling continues with five rigs operating on the Core property. The updated resource base will underpin the Scoping Study update targeted for May 2021. A further resource update will precede the DFS scheduled for September 2021 release, the company added.
President and CEO Keith D. Phillips commented, “Increasing the scale of our North Carolina mineral resource to 39.2 Mt at 1.09% Li2O establishes our asset as one of the largest spodumene resources in North America – and the only one in the United States. The expanded resource offers the potential for increased annual lithium production, something we will evaluate as we prepare our updated Scoping Study for release next month.”
“All this is coming together at an ideal time, as the public and private sectors dramatically increase their investment in the electrification of America. Given the scope and strategic location of our Piedmont lithium project, we believe we are ideally positioned to play a critical role in helping the United States build a clean energy economy and a U.S. based EV supply chain,” concluded Phillips.
Piedmont Lithium is an emerging lithium chemicals company focused on the development of its 100%-owned Piedmont lithium project in North Carolina, with the goal of becoming a strategic domestic supplier of battery-grade lithium hydroxide and other chemicals to the growing electric vehicle and battery storage markets in the United States.
