The Argosy Minerals Limited (ASX: AGY) share price is having a very strong session on Wednesday morning.

In early trade, the ASX lithium stock is up an impressive 15% to 15 cents.

Investors have been fighting to get hold of the company's shares this morning after it made a big announcement relating to the Rincon Lithium Project in Argentina.

According to the release, Argosy Minerals has received official signed approval from the Government of Salta Province and the Secretary of Mining and Energy to grant the development of its 10,000tpa lithium carbonate expansion operation at the project.

This follows the approval of the company's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and means the company is now able to increase its production to 12,000tpa of lithium carbonate product.

Management believes the EIA approval significantly de-risks project development at Rincon and will now prioritise a strategic partner process. This includes securing capital expenditure funding and off-take arrangements with a tier one counterparty in the electric vehicle supply chain for the 10,000tpa expansion.

The ASX lithium stock's managing director, Jerko Zuvela, was very pleased with the news and described it as a significant milestone for the company. He said:

We are grateful to the Salta Province regulatory authorities, especially the Secretary of Mining and Energy and her team. The Company has conducted extensive works on this EIA process to prove the long-term sustainability of our project.

This is a significant milestone and I thank our team for such an achievement and we look forward to completing our upcoming milestones. The Company can confidently advance its strategic partner process, with the EIA approval providing significant de-risking for a potential strategic group to become involved in realising the development of the next 10,000tpa stage of our Rincon Project. This significant milestone further confirms Argosy's ambitions and near-term growth phase to fully develop the Rincon Lithium Project.

Despite today's strong gain, this ASX lithium stock remains among the worst performers on the All Ordinaries index over the last 12 months.

During this time, its shares have lost a very disappointing 62% of their value. As a comparison, over the same period, the All Ordinaries index has delivered a return of 6.2% before dividends. Including them, the return would be closer to 10%.

Shareholders will no doubt be hoping that today marks a turning point in the company's fortunes.