(Bloomberg) -- The abrupt departure of Sayona Mining Ltd.’s top executive won’t impact its flagship lithium mine in Canada, according to top shareholder and operation co-owner Piedmont Lithium Inc.

Sayona said Monday that Chief Executive Officer Brett Lynch will leave immediately for “personal reasons” while its board will conduct a review of the Australian company’s strategic direction. Piedmont’s top executive said those developments won’t stop work at their jointly owned North American Lithium mine in Quebec, one of the few lithium mines in North America.

“A number of people were concerned that he was leaving because things weren’t going well at NAL. And nothing can be further from the truth — that has nothing to do with his departure,” Piedmont CEO Keith Phillips said Tuesday in a phone interview. “Things are going really well at NAL.”

Sayona fell as much as 4.4% on Wednesday after volatile trade during the last two sessions. The stock rose 26% on Tuesday, retracing most of Monday’s 27% decline.

Piedmont has a 25% stake in the mine, which started producing lithium earlier this year, and counts itself as Sayona’s top purchaser of shipments.  The North Carolina-based company also owns about 12% of Sayona’s shares, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sayona didn’t respond to requests for comment.

--With assistance from Abhishek Vishnoi.

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