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Sayona meets the population of Chibougamau-Chapais
May 4, 2023 — Modified at 9:50 am on May 4, 2023 Reading time: 4 min
Sayona meets the population of Chibougamau-Chapais
The Sayona mining company, which is the last Moblan project near Chibougamau, had the opportunity to meet the regional population as part of the Mining Week organized by ICM, Chibougamau-Chapais section.
Already well in the saddle with its project of the Lithium North America complex near La Corne en Abitibi which will be operational very soon, the Moblan project is likely to make a lot of talk about it in the coming years.
Moblan
Sayona acquired the Moblan property 130 km from Chibougamau in September 2021, a property it shares with SOQUEM (40%). Since then, a vast drilling campaign has been underway to define the deposit, which is increasingly showing very interesting potential and will be able to provide high-quality lithium. With Moblan, mining is part of the new movement of the industry to want to make the most ecological mining operation possible at all costs, it is also to his credit. Their wish is to contribute to the electrification of transport and to fight climate change.
Even if their arrival in the region is recent, the mining industry says it is already well established in the environment. "It is important for us to be well involved in the communities that welcome us. For our projects to be successful, we must work with our host communities, with entrepreneurs and cities, "says Steven Pomerleau, communication and relationship with the community.
Already, achievements and support have been made in the community, in particular with FaunENord at the ecological level, in the artistic field with BABA and also a program to install electrical terminals to support the electrification of transport. Local purchasing is also one of their priorities. "Local hiring and buying are a priority, we must work hand in hand with the people and companies here. We estimate our economic benefits at about $3.8 million for the last year, "confirms Mr. Pomerleau. It should be noted that already networking activities and meetings have been carried out with the entrepreneurs of Chibougamau, but also of Chapais.
An economic development committee has also been set up in collaboration with Développement Chibougamau and the Chapais Economic Development Corporation in order to optimize the economic benefits in the environment. Mining is also involved with Cree communities in the region. Meetings have already been organized to present the project and a monitoring committee is already in place with them to discuss the impact of the project. Already several members of the communities are employed by Sayona.
Construction for 2025
In an ideal world, mining would like to start the construction of Moblan in 2025-2026. At present, there is no shortage of challenges. This year, the Lithium North America complex in La Corne recently began production of spodumene. In the coming months on Moblan's side, exploration to properly define resources will be completed while preparing the feasibility study. A start of construction would be estimated in 2025-2026 for a start of operation in 2027. For the future, the production target is 55 Kilotonnes of lithium carbonate by combining the two extraction poles for the following year. Sayona, with its properties and the Moblan project will own no less than about 30% of the lithium resource in North America. This is about 89 million tons of lithium in all properties combined. For Moblan, not all data is available and the results may change, but the mine will be in operation for at least twenty years.
One of the important aspects: the company will soon be in an audition to obtain its Ecologo certification, a certification that guarantees the company's permanent desire to do well on the environmental side. The company will also recommend companies that hold such certification for their partnership with subcontractors. Another aspect that is put forward is that the lithium that will be produced in Quebec will be more ecological since it will not travel half the planet before it arrives at the processing plant.