The MOU also includes provisions for the signing of a long term supply agreement for lithium salts (lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate) for future expected demand for JMBM’s battery material products. The lithium salts will be produced from the commercial hydromet plant which Nemaska Lithium also intends to build in Shawinigan.

The collaboration is subject to final due diligence by JMBM and completion of the required final agreements.

We are very pleased to have entered into this strategic agreement with JMBM, a leading supplier of lithium iron phosphate cathode materials for automotive and non-automotive applications. We are confident in our ability to deliver very pure lithium salts from the Phase 1 Plant and in our ability to subsequently become a long term supplier to JMBM. Analysts and industry experts are predicting a coming shortage of lithium compounds as the lithium battery market continues to grow and companies execute on their growth plans (multiple gigafactories are under construction).

—Guy Bourassa, President and CEO of Nemaska Lithium

While Nemaska intends to build its Phase 1 Plant and the subsequent commercial plant, the construction and operation are subject to financing. The Phase 1 plant will be built in the recently acquired Laurentide Plant in Shawinigan. It will have a capacity to produce about 500t/y of high purity lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate.