Eye on Lithium: Panasonic expands US footprint, Sayona stays on track for NAL ops in 2023

• Liontown Resources executes a binding power purchase agreement with Australian independent power producer Zenith Energy for the supply of power to the Kathleen Valley Lithium Project
• Sayona remains on target for the recommencement of production at its flagship North American Lithium (NAL) operation in Q1, 2023 
• Auroch Minerals completes field mapping at the newly discovered Kangaroo Hills Lithium prospect (which forms part of the Nepean Nickel Project)

All your lithium news, Tuesday December 20.

Panasonic Energy Co, a Panasonic Group company, has entered into multi-year agreement to supply batteries to Lucid Group and its luxury electric vehicle range – Lucid Air, the fastest and longest EV on the market.

The agreement marks another milestone in Panasonic’s plans to expand production of lithium-ion EV batteries beyond Japan with production coming from both a facility in Japan, as well as expected future production from its recently announced battery production facility in De Soto, Kansas.

Panasonic president and CEO Kazuo Tadanobu says this partnership will help the company drive growth of the lithium-ion battery industry in the US.

“We continue to ramp production of the full Lucid Air line-up in 2023 and expect to begin production of our Gravity SUV in 2024,” he says.

Fastmarkets battery raw materials analyst Jordan Roberts says the US Inflation Reduction ACT (IRA) has resulted in an “influx of development plans” across the battery chain, with announcements coming in almost weekly.

“The attractive incentives on offer are encouraging companies to build out the US supply chain, often at the detriment of planned developments in Europe,” he says.

“Companies have now announced close to 1,000 GWh of capacity by 2030, exceeding the domestic demand requirement from EVs, which Fastmarkets forecasts at 468 GWh in the same year.”

Here’s how ASX lithium companies are tracking:

Most lithium stocks dropped today after a broad sell-off on Wall Street for the fourth consecutive day.

Only 26 companies finished in the green while another 69 ended up in the red zone.

Who else has news out?

LIONTOWN RESOURCES (ASX:LTR)

LTR’s share price has tumbled today despite having executed a binding power purchase agreement with Australian independent power producer Zenith Energy for the supply of power to the Kathleen Valley Lithium Project in WA.

Zenith Energy has progressed the planning, engineering, and design works for the 95MW Hybrid Power Station at Kathleen Valley, including the order of long lead items such as the wind turbines.

With 46MW of emissions free power generation capacity, the 95MW hybrid power station is currently expected to be one of the largest off-grid wind-solar-battery storage renewable energy facilities in the mining industry in Australia.

The thermal components are designed to operate in “engine off” mode at various times, enabling Liontown to operate from 100 per cent renewable energy during periods of high wind and solar resource.

LTR has also secured approval for a $25m guarantee facility from Export Finance Australia as part of the security package under the power purchase agreement.

SAYONA MINING (ASX:SYA)

Emerging lithium producer, SYA, says it is on target for the recommencement of production at its flagship North American Lithium (NAL) operation in Q1, 2023 with procurement, permitting, and construction activities continuing to advance.

Procurement was 99pc completed at the end of November, with nearly all procurement items received at site.

Meanwhile, contracts have been awarded for all critical installation items.

Sayona is now optimising the short-term mining sequence from the PFS mine plan to facilitate a smooth start for commercial production.

AUROCH MINING (ASX:AOU)

Field mapping completed at the newly discovered Kangaroo Hills Lithium prospect (which forms part of the Nepean Nickel Project) has identified numerous outcropping pegmatites which will be targeted in upcoming drilling.

A highly prospective cluster or potential swarm has been identified close to mineralised drill hole intercepts previously reported (6m at 1.38% Li2O).

Planning of a first phase ~3000m RC drilling program is nearing completion while drill rigs and earthworks have been contracted to start in mid-January.

Following the recent successful ~$2.7m capital raise, Auroch is well funded and now has a clearly defined exploration plan to thoroughly test the LCT potential of these pegmatites.

CHARGER METALS (ASX:CHR)

Recent drilling at Charger’s Medcalf prospect near Lake Johnston WA has revealed numerous spodumene-bearing pegmatites within a 50m wide zone.

The program has provided critical information about the orientation of mineralisation aiding planning ahead of the resumption of drilling in early 2023.

CRITICAL RESOURCES (ASX:CRR)

A binding purchase and sale agreement has been executed with TSX-V listed Power Metals Corp to acquire Power Metals’ Gullwing-Tot Lakes property.

The company has directly staked, at minimal cost, a further 8,376ha of claims with the new combined area of the Mavis Lake Project fully contiguous – increasing in side by 324% and now sitting at ~22,984ha.

“This significant increase in land position is naturally aligned to the company’s focus on Mavis Lake,” CRR managing director Alex Cheeseman says.

“Planning has already begun to undertake exploration efforts on the newly-acquired area in 2023, as we leverage synergies with our existing Mavis Lake exploration team and build upon recent exceptional drilling results.”

Liontown, Sayona, Auroch, Charger Metals and Critical Resources share price today:

FORRESTANIA RESOURCES (ASX:FRS)

FRS says 5,000m of lithium drilling will kick off mid-January across FRS’ namesake Forrestania project in WA.

There are four juicy targets in the crosshairs including Giant Pegmatite, where a 2016 drill hole pulled up 34m at 3.1% Li2O from 68m.

FRS plans to test the body of the pegmatite to see how ‘giant’ it actually is.

PATRIOT BATTERY METALS (ASX:PMT)

PMT has achieved 79% recovery through dense media separation test work on the CV5 pegmatite trend within the Corvette property.

The company says results affirm previous Heavy Liquid Separation (HLS) tests and indicate a strong potential for a DMS driven flowsheet without the need of flotation.

An HLS screening program is nearing completion and will assess the liberation and recovery characteristics at different locations of the CV5 Pegmatite along strike and at depth.

GALAN LITHIUM (ASX:GLN)

A maiden diamond drilling program at the newly defined Fry’s Block located within the Greenbushes South Lithium Project is scheduled to begin in late January 2023, pending receipt of program of works (POW) approvals.

Greenbushes is currently the largest hard-rock lithium mine in the world and has been in production since 1983.

It is operated by Talison Lithium Pty Ltd, a private company now owned by joint venture partners Tianqi Lithium Corporation / IGO Limited JV (51%) and Albemarle Corporation (49%).

WEST COBAR METALS (ASX:WC1)

West Cobar has received notification from the Northern Territory’s Mineral Titles Office that the company’s EL33208 tenement, known as the Hermit Hill Project, has been granted for an initial period of six years.

A five-hole diamond drilling program has been developed to test three interpreted pegmatite targets at the Fry’s Block Prospect on E70/4790.

The shallow-angled drilling program follows recent successful fieldwork campaigns, including highly encouraging geophysics and soil sampling results

Exploration within E70/4790 tenement is ongoing, with additional ground geophysics planned as a follow-up to historical and pending soil transects to aid in the identification of blind pegmatites at depth.

Forrestania Resources, Patriot Battery Metals, Galan Lithium and West Cobar share price today: