Piedmont Lithium

Piedmont Lithium Inc. (Nasdaq: PLL) is an American lithium mining and development company headquartered in Belmont, North Carolina, focused on establishing a domestic supply of battery-grade lithium to support the U.S. electric vehicle and energy storage industries. Founded in 2016 by Australian financier Taso Arima and U.S. geologist Lamont Leatherman, the company centers its flagship project - the "Carolina Lithium" project - on approximately 3,482 acres in Gaston County, NC, situated within the historic Carolina Tin-Spodumene Belt. This project, valued at $1.2-$1.8 billion in planned investment, is designed to include an open-pit mine, a spodumene concentrator, and a lithium hydroxide conversion facility - one of the few integrated lithium processing operations of its kind in the United States. Piedmont also holds a 25% stake in the "North American Lithium" mine in Quebec, Canada (a joint venture with Sayona Mining), which became the company's first revenue-generating asset when it began producing spodumene concentrate in 2023. The company also explored a Tennessee lithium hydroxide conversion plant, for which it was offered - but declined - a $141.7 million DOE grant.

Piedmont's strategic significance to the U.S. energy supply chain is substantial. The U.S. currently produces less than 1% of the world's lithium supply, with the vast majority mined and processed in Australia and Chile. Piedmont's integrated Carolina Lithium project, if fully developed, would produce approximately 33,000 tons of lithium per year, reducing America's dependence on foreign lithium sources for EV batteries. The company secured a landmark supply agreement with Tesla and attracted investment from LG Chem, reflecting the urgency among battery manufacturers to lock in domestic lithium supply. Piedmont reported $99.88 million in revenue for FY2024, a 150% increase year-over-year, primarily driven by spodumene concentrate sales from its Quebec operations.

In August 2025, Piedmont Lithium completed a transformational merger with Australia-based Sayona Mining, forming a new combined entity known as Elevra Lithium (ASX: ELV, Nasdaq: ELVR). The combined company is now North America's largest hard rock lithium producer, with a globally diversified asset portfolio spanning Quebec, North Carolina, Ghana, and Western Australia. Elevra Lithium is strategically positioned to be a cornerstone supplier of battery-critical minerals as the EV industry scales, and its ongoing development of the Carolina Lithium project remains central to the U.S. government's goals of securing domestic critical mineral supply chains.