Piedmont Lithium Shares More Than Triple on Supply Deal With Tesla

By Dave Sebastian

Piedmont Lithium Ltd. American depositary shares more than tripled in premarket trading after it said it entered a five-year agreement with Tesla Inc. to supply spodumene concentrate, or SC6, from its North Carolina deposit.

The agreement represents about a third of Piedmont's planned SC6 annual production of 160,000 tons, as well as additional quantity based on Tesla's requests. The deliveries could start between July 2022 and July 2023, based on the development schedules of both parties, the companies said.

The company said it expects the sales to generate 10% to 20% of Piedmont's total revenues from its proposed integrated mine-to-hydroxide project for the first five years.

"We will now accelerate our mine/concentrator development to support Tesla's plans, work to further expand our mineral resources, and potentially increase our planned annual spodumene concentrate production capacity," President and Chief Executive Keith Phillips said.

Tesla shares rose 4.3% in premarket trading.

Write to Dave Sebastian at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 28, 2020 09:10 ET (13:10 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.