Nemaska Lithium's (TSX: NMX) board of directors has appointed a special committee to review all strategic alternatives, after the company disclosed this month that it has been forced to revise the budget for the Whabouchi lithium mine and Shawinigan electrochemical plant up by C$375 million.
Nemaska, which has received funding from the Quebec provincial and Canadian federal governments, is building the Whabouchi hard rock lithium mine in the James Bay region and Shawinigan processing plant north of Montreal, aiming to put Canada on the global lithium production map.
The special committee is comprised of independent members of the corporation's board of directors, the company said in a statement.
Clarksons Platou Securities AS has also been engaged as financial advisor to the corporation and the board. National Bank Financial and PricewaterhouseCoopers have been engaged as financial advisors to the committee and the board and McCarthy T?(C)trault LLP has been engaged as legal advisor to the special committee and the board.
Last year, the Canadian developer arranged $1.1 billion financing for the lithium project. SoftBank's Vision Fund entered the mining sector for the first time in May 2018, buying up to 9.9% of Nemaska Lithium.
The C$375 million budget revision was revealed on February 13, and Nemaska's shares plummeted 35% that day.
As of market close Thursday, Nemaska's shares were down nearly 4%, trading at 0.38 on the TSE.