Piedmont Lithium December 2019 Quarterly Report

NEW YORK – Piedmont Lithium Limited (ASX: PLL; NASDAQ: PLL) (“Piedmont” or “Company”) is pleased to present its December 2019 quarterly report. Highlights during and subsequent to the quarter were:

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Figure 1: Piedmont Lithium Project located within the TSB (Photo: Business Wire)

Figure 1: Piedmont Lithium Project located within the TSB (Photo: Business Wire)

  • Completed federal permitting required to develop the proposed mine and concentrator at the Company’s Piedmont Lithium Project (“Project”) in North Carolina, United States, following receipt of a Clean Water Act Section 404 Standard Individual Permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”);
  • Appointed Hatch to deliver a pre-feasibility study (“PFS”) for the Company’s proposed lithium hydroxide chemical plant in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, United States. Hatch is a global leader in the development of lithium conversion projects and will utilize its experienced lithium staff to complete the PFS by mid-2020. Primero and Marshall Miller are continuing their work on the proposed mine and concentrator at the Project;
  • In response to strong interest from prospective lithium hydroxide customers, the Company is accelerating the development of its lithium chemical plant by compressing its project timeline into a single-stage, effectively accelerating chemical plant development by one year while deferring the mine and concentrator construction start date by one year, resulting in integrated operations from day one;
  • Completed the Company’s Phase 4 drill program, which comprised 113 holes for a total of 18,393 meters. The Phase 4 drill program was successful in expanding the Project’s mine life from 13 to 25 years (as reported in the expanded Scoping Study published in August 2019);
  • Assays from the final 19 drill holes of the Phase 4 drilling program at our Central and Core properties intersected significant mineralization, including 36.0m @ 1.11% Li2O and 44.9m @ 1.30% Li2O in Hole 19-CT-19, 13.0m @ 1.28% Li2O and 7.3m @ 1.37% Li2O in Hole 19-CT-26, and 14.8m @ 1.55% Li2O and 12.4m @ 1.02% Li2O in Hole 19-BD-332;
  • Soil and rock chip sampling led to the discovery of five new spodumene-bearing pegmatites in areas that have not previously been explored;
  • Commenced permitting for the proposed lithium hydroxide chemical plant;
  • Entered into a Letter of Intent (“LOI”) with Ion Carbon & Minerals, LLC (“Ion”) to partner to market the quartz, feldspar, and mica produced at the Project. Ion is wholly owned by the AMCI Group, a leading specialist natural resources investor and marketer with a long-standing track record of success across a broad range of commodities; and
  • Continued numerous preliminary off-take, financing and strategic conversations, including companies from the lithium, mining, chemicals, battery, automotive and private equity sectors.
  • Mr Anastasios (Taso) Arima will step down as Executive Director of the Company, effective from January 31, 2020, to focus on his other business interests. Mr Arima will remain as a Non-Executive Director of the Company.

Next steps:

  • Complete the PFS for the chemical plant in Q2 2020;
  • Finalize the bench scale lithium hydroxide testwork program and produce initial product samples;
  • Continue offtake discussions for lithium hydroxide with participants in the global battery supply chain; and
  • Continue to evaluate strategic partnering options.

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Keith D. Phillips | President & CEO

T: +1 973 809 0505

E: kphillips@piedmontlithium.com

Piedmont Reports New Spodumene Pegmatite Discoveries and Final Phase 4 Drill Results

  • Piedmont has completed the final 19 drill holes of its Phase 4 drilling program, comprising 12 holes at our Central property and 7 holes at our Core property
  • 10 of the 12 holes drilled on the Central property intersected significant mineralization, including:
    • 36.0m @ 1.11% Li2O from 15m and 44.9m @ 1.30% Li2O from 72m in Hole 19-CT-19
    • 13.0m @ 1.28% Li2O from 169m and 7.3m @ 1.37% Li2O from 203m in Hole 19-CT-26
  • 6 of the 7 holes drilled on the Core property intersected significant mineralization, including:
    • 14.8m @ 1.55% Li2O from 81m and 12.4m @ 1.02% Li2O from 35m in Hole 19-BD-332
    • 12.3m @ 1.55% Li2O from 69m, including 5.1m @ 2.13% Li2O from 76m in Hole 19-BD-333
  • Soil and rock chip sampling have led to the discovery of five new spodumene-bearing pegmatites
  • Recent x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis continues to confirm “spodumene-only” lithium mineralogy

 

NEW YORK – Piedmont Lithium Limited (“Piedmont” or “Company”) is pleased to announce drill results for the final 19 drill holes of the Phase 4 drill campaign completed on the Piedmont Lithium Project (“Project”) located within the world-class Carolina Tin-Spodumene Belt (“TSB”) in North Carolina, USA (Figure 2). The drill results are from the Central and Core properties. Significant mineralization was encountered in 17 of the 19 holes reported.

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Figure 1 - TSB Map showing Piedmont MRE, New Pegmatite Discoveries, and Historical Mines and Data (Graphic: Business Wire)

Figure 1 – TSB Map showing Piedmont MRE, New Pegmatite Discoveries, and Historical Mines and Data (Graphic: Business Wire)

The Phase 4 program comprised a total of 113 drill holes for 18,393 meters on both the Core and Central properties. 12 holes for 1,834 meters have been completed on the Central property (Figure 3) since an initial Mineral Resource estimate (“MRE”) was announced in April 2019. 7 holes totaling 820 meters have been completed at Core property (Figure 4) since announcing an updated MRE in June 2019. At both properties, the drilling was predominantly focused on Exploration Target areas.

These drill results continue to expand the extent of mineralization on both properties. At Central, mineralization has been extended laterally, to the southwest, and down dip. At the Core property, 5 of the 7 holes confirmed a significant new flat lying pegmatite in the southwest portion of the property.

Additionally, Piedmont has undertaken soil sampling over the past year which has proved to be a valuable exploration tool within the TSB. This year’s soil sampling program followed by rock chip sampling has led to the discovery of five new spodumene-bearing pegmatites on Piedmont exploration properties.

The regional data continues to highlight the overall size and continuity of the Carolina TSB and its importance as a domestic source for the critical element, lithium. Figure 1 shows a 25-mile portion of the Carolina TSB which hosts two historic mines, Piedmonts Lithium’s MRE, USGS Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS) spodumene/lithium occurrences and other areas of confirmed spodumene mineralization documented by Piedmont Lithium’s activities and regional mapping. After 70 years of history, the belt still has enormous exploration potential to add additional lithium resources.

Finally, recent XRD analysis from two composite samples, one from Core and one from Central, continue to identify spodumene as the only lithium bearing mineral identified.

Keith D. Phillips, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are excited by the continued positive news on the exploration front. In 2019 we increased our Mineral Resource Estimate from 16.2Mt @ 1.12% to 27.9Mt @ 1.11%, and we believe there is significant potential for further increases. The Carolina Tin-Spodumene Belt is one of the world’s largest spodumene occurrences, and as we continue to build our land package and have exploration success, the potential for mine life extension or throughput expansion will be an important area of focus.

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For further information, please contact:

Keith D. Phillips

President & CEO

T: +1 973 809 0505

E: kphillips@piedmontlithium.com

Anastasios (Taso) Arima

Executive Director

T: +1 347 899 1522

E: tarima@piedmontlithium.com