Piedmont Lithium reported its first revenues and profits Tuesday thanks to shipments from its mine partnership in Quebec. But the Belmont-based company told investors it's still waiting for permits and financing to open its planned lithium mine in northern Gaston County.
Piedmont owns one-quarter of the Canadian mine and made its first shipment to unnamed international customers this summer. The sales totaled $47 million and produced a $22.9 million profit, the first in the company's history.
CEO Keith Phillips told investors on a conference call Tuesday that the fiscal quarter was "transformational."
"Seven years since our founding, we have transitioned from an explorer to a developer to become a lithium supplier in generating our first revenue — huge milestones," Phillips said.
Piedmont was founded in Gaston County to develop a $1.2 billion mine and processing plant near Cherryville. It's also planning an $800 million lithium processing plant in Tennessee.
The company plans to sell lithium to automobile and battery makers, including Tesla, as the market for electric vehicles and batteries expands.
Phillips said there's not currently enough capacity in the U.S. to meet coming market demands.
"Over the past two years, more than $80 billion worth of battery manufacturing projects or expansions have been announced — $80 billion just in the U.S. alone. These projects would require nearly 40 times the amount of lithium hydroxide capacity currently in the U.S. to fill demand domestically. And current planned capacity, including ours, doesn't come anywhere near that mark," Phillips said.
The question is when Piedmont might be able to ramp up production to fill that demand. While this quarter's profit and health profit margin of 50% may keep investors happy for now, the company faces challenges.
Phillips said Piedmont still needs to raise billions of dollars for the Tennessee and North Carolina projects. He announced on the call that the company has decided not to accept a $141.7 million federal Department of Energy (DOE) grant to help pay for the Tennessee plant. He said the grant, funded by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, wouldn't cover enough of the cost. Instead, Piedmont is pursuing a bigger-dollar DOE Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan. But that's still up to a year away.
Approvals still needed
The company also will need money to build the Gaston County project. At least some of that also could come from a DOE loan, he said.
Meanwhile, Piedmont is still seeking state and local approvals for the Gaston County mine. In particular, Chief Operating Officer Patrick Brindle says the company may need another extension as it answers questions from state mining regulators.
"Our response may require us to submit an extension request in order to finalize containment plans for our waste rock stockpile," Brindle said on Tuesday's call.
Brindle also reiterated that Piedmont won't seek a rezoning for the 1,500-acre Gaston County site until it gets the state mining permit, which won't come until sometime next year.
"As we prepare to enter the rezoning and local approval process, which would follow receipt of our state mining permit, we have expanded our engagement with government officials and community stakeholders," he said. "We remain optimistic about the Carolina lithium project and its ultimate value for shareholders, and all stakeholders. And we're very pleased with the strong support we've received from many local, state and national political figures for this project."
Residents have been skeptical of Piedmont's plans, and company officials have gotten a cool reception at meetings before the Gaston County Commission, which must approve the plans.
Piedmont has said the mine is not expected to open until at least 2027. Officials gave no new estimates of the timeline on Tuesday.
See Piedmont's press release announcing quarterly results at PiedmontLithium.com.
