Each week our High Voltage column wraps all the news driving ASX battery metals stocks with exposure to lithium, cobalt, graphite, manganese and vanadium.

Scroll down for a table showing the recent performance of 200 ASX battery metal stocks >>

Industry focus

Established global vanadium producers like Bushveld (LON:BMN) and Largo Resources (TSE:LGO) are laughing all the way to the bank following a year of extraordinary prices – and there’s a bunch of ASX listed juniors champing at the bit to join them.

Bushveld just announced underlying earnings of $US107.5 million in 2018 – a 350 per cent increase on the year prior.

Early in January, Toronto based Largo said that while vanadium prices had receded to between $US15.50-$US16.00/lb, this was still up 38 per cent when compared to the same period last year.

Largo (and many others) continue to believe that a structural supply deficit means elevated pricing should remain in the short-term.

Source: Mastermines

Consultancy Mastermines tweeted last week that spot prices stabilised around $US17.07/lb by the end of January.

“Signs that a further surge is building to begin after China New Year,” Mastermines says.

“The market will be looking for more stable pricing during 2019.”

Show me the money!

 

 

In the space of a few days two crucial reports were released on the future of electric vehicles uptake and a local battery sector in Australia.

Both are ambitious but have refused to put a dollar figure on their plans.

This senate report has 17 recommendations to fast-charge Australia’s EV uptake — which is comparatively non-existent right now on a global scale.

The people and companies who responded to the committee’s call for submissions worried about higher upfront costs, driving range, lack of charging infrastructure, and limited model availability.

The first recommendation is basic: prioritise the development of a national EV strategy and an inter-governmental taskforce to lead its implementation.

The report included discussion of the specific tax and spending proposals but makes no recommendations on them.

“That is a task for the national government, engaging with industry and the wider community,” committee member senator Kim Carr says.

Then the Western Australia government released its own Future Battery Industry Strategy with a vision to transform  the state into a world-leading producer and exporter of battery materials, tech, and knowledge by 2025.

Currently, Western Australia is the world’s largest lithium miner and exporter.

It actually produces nine of the 10 mineral elements required to make most lithium-ion battery anodes and cathodes, and has reserves of the remaining element, graphite.

But the strategy goes well beyond developing new mines to focus on downstream processing, manufacturing of battery components and cells, battery assembly and recycling.

Current global Lithium-ion battery manufacturing hotspots. Source
Current global lithium-ion battery manufacturing hotspots.

There’s a sense of urgency about the strategy but again, it doesn’t look as if a large amount of extra government cash is being committed.

Not like in the US, where the state of California leads the electrification charge.

In early 2018, the Cali government launched a $US2.5 billion roadmap towards getting five million electric vehicles on the state’s roads by 2030, which included 250,000 EV charging stations and 200 hydrogen fuelling stations by 2025.

In November the German government announced a $1.71 billion investment to support its own lithium-ion battery industry, as it looks to catch up with EV and battery cell front-runner China.

But industry feedback and research has shown that financial incentives aren’t that successful, a spokesperson from the Western Australian Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation (JTSI) told Stockhead.

Factors such as resource availability and quality, technical expertise, production standards, innovation and market size were more important.

“An example is of the US where, in the wake of the global financial crisis, the federal government spent billions of dollars on developing a local battery manufacturing industry with little success [which] suggests that direct financial incentives are insufficient to develop the battery industry,” the spokesperson said.

“None of the battery companies that received the stimulus money at the time thrived and very few survived.

“Tesla, the US main battery manufacturer, did not receive any of that stimulus money and has its batteries made by Japan’s Panasonic.”

And look how that turned out.

Small cap spotlight

It’s been a recovery week for battery metals stocks on the ASX. Of the companies on our list, about 72 lost ground, 63 were ahead and 53 were steady.

Here’s how that looks for the year so far:

Here’s a table of ASX battery metal stocks with exposure to lithium, cobalt, graphite, manganese and vanadium>>>

Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort. Best viewed on a laptop

Ticker Name 1 Week Price Change % 1 Year Price Change % Share Price [Mon Feb 4 Intraday] Market Cap
BAU BAUXITE RESOURCES 102.70 17.19 0.075 $14,366,297.00
IEC INTRA ENERGY 50.00 25.00 0.016 $5,815,860.50
CAZ CAZALY RESOURCES 27.78 -46.51 0.024 $4,656,381.00
ORN ORION MINERALS 26.09 -23.68 0.029 $43,095,872.00
MTB MOUNT BURGESS MINING 25.00 -50.00 0.005 $1,768,317.63
SI6 SIX SIGMA METALS 25.00 -66.67 0.005 $1,830,012.63
AZI ALTA ZINC 20.00 -45.45 0.006 $8,213,794.00
MLM METALLICA MINERALS 20.00 -43.40 0.03 $8,061,182.50
MTH MITHRIL RESOURCES 20.00 -87.02 0.006 $2,111,946.00
CRL COMET RESOURCES 19.23 -70.48 0.031 $7,143,950.00
BEM BLACKEARTH MINERALS 17.65 -64.44 0.08 $5,470,695.00
SYA SAYONA MINING 16.67 -69.57 0.022 $32,703,940.00
FCC FIRST COBALT 15.63 -83.98 0.185 $66,167,756.00
AML AEON METALS 14.00 14.00 0.275 $161,554,176.00
THR THOR MINING 13.64 -66.22 0.025 $17,922,514.00
EUC EUROPEAN COBALT 12.50 -73.00 0.027 $19,042,434.00
CMC CHINA MAGNESIUM 11.11 -31.03 0.02 $7,048,771.00
HMX HAMMER METALS 10.00 -61.40 0.022 $5,565,941.50
OAR OAKDALE RESOURCES 9.52 -34.29 0.023 $1,502,766.75
HAV HAVILAH RESOURCES 9.38 -37.50 0.18 $36,011,092.00
PGM PLATINA RESOURCES 8.82 -50.67 0.074 $20,337,720.00
RIO RIO TINTO 8.82 20.35 86.66 $128,383,156,224.00
TON TRITON MINERALS 8.70 -52.38 0.049 $46,356,896.00
JRV JERVOIS MINING 8.51 -54.46 0.255 $56,932,064.00
IRC INTERMIN RESOURCES 8.33 -31.58 0.13 $31,777,442.00
KDR KIDMAN RESOURCES 7.30 -34.21 1.24 $455,397,088.00
AOU AUROCH MINERALS 7.14 -28.57 0.075 $7,537,765.50
GBE GLOBE METALS AND MINING 7.14 -21.05 0.015 $6,988,835.50
ANW AUS TIN MINING 6.67 -42.86 0.015 $29,822,562.00
BSM BASS METALS 6.67 -33.33 0.016 $41,421,688.00
ESR ESTRELLA RESOURCES 6.67 -30.43 0.015 $7,870,132.50
S32 SOUTH32 6.38 -3.78 3.46 $17,831,686,144.00
LPD LEPIDICO 6.25 -69.64 0.017 $57,054,980.00
LCD LATITUDE CONSOLIDATED 5.88 -33.33 0.018 $4,953,222.00
PIO PIONEER RESOURCES 5.88 -37.93 0.018 $25,569,906.00
BKT BLACK ROCK MINING 5.00 3.28 0.067 $29,617,758.00
GLN GALAN LITHIUM 5.00 215.00 0.31 $35,190,688.00
HIG HIGHLANDS PACIFIC 5.00 16.67 0.105 $114,737,056.00
WKT WALKABOUT RESOURCES 5.00 -8.70 0.1 $30,424,974.00
GME GME RESOURCES 4.65 -35.33 0.09 $43,392,620.00
BAT BATTERY MINERALS 4.55 -76.53 0.024 $23,387,102.00
TNO TANDO RESOURCES 4.35 76.00 0.12 $22,262,514.00
ARE ARGONAUT RESOURCES 4.00 -3.70 0.027 $40,413,896.00
CHN CHALICE GOLD MINES 4.00 -3.70 0.13 $34,653,856.00
PUR PURSUIT MINERALS 3.85 -55.00 0.047 $7,712,380.50
SGQ ST GEORGE MINING 3.85 -40.00 0.135 $38,755,108.00
PLS PILBARA MINERALS 3.76 -24.59 0.6825 $1,133,933,696.00
CLA CELSIUS RESOURCES 3.70 -56.92 0.0555 $40,132,560.00
VMC VENUS METALS CORP 3.70 7.69 0.14 $12,672,057.00
SO4 SALT LAKE POTASH 3.49 -5.32 0.46 $91,790,408.00
INF INFINITY LITHIUM CORP 3.33 -55.71 0.062 $11,410,266.00
PAN PANORAMIC RESOURCES 3.23 6.67 0.49 $247,263,984.00
PLL PIEDMONT LITHIUM 3.09 -44.44 0.095 $63,348,020.00
EMH EUROPEAN METALS 2.99 -38.94 0.345 $50,591,568.00
MNS MAGNIS ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES 2.94 -18.60 0.355 $198,619,200.00
VXR VENTUREX RESOURCES 2.86 -25.00 0.195 $46,486,900.00
AUZ AUSTRALIAN MINES 2.38 -57.00 0.043 $121,429,160.00
DEV DEVEX RESOURCES 2.17 -54.98 0.047 $4,229,247.00
JMS JUPITER MINES 2.13 241.19 0.24 $479,952,800.00
LPI LITHIUM POWER INTERNATIONAL 2.13 -51.52 0.25 $63,003,336.00
GWR GWR GROUP 2.04 49.25 0.1 $25,351,744.00
TMT TECHNOLOGY METALS AUSTRALIA 1.56 4.84 0.325 $23,114,300.00
WML WOOMERA MINING 1.49 -93.20 0.068 $7,663,901.50
AYR ALLOY RESOURCES 0.00 -57.14 0.003 $4,731,233.00
ARU ARAFURA RESOURCES 0.00 -61.14 0.044 $31,741,738.00
ADV ARDIDEN 0.00 -80.95 0.004 $6,707,521.00
ARM AURORA MINERALS 0.00 -50.00 0.02 $2,342,665.75
AVL AUSTRALIAN VANADIUM 0.00 -43.48 0.026 $51,319,940.00
BMT BERKUT MINERALS 0.00 -54.71 0.077 $3,910,800.00
BGS BIRIMIAN 0.00 -75.74 0.16 $43,347,168.00
BDI BLINA MINERALS 0.00 -50.00 0.001 $4,363,882.50
BOA BOADICEA RESOURCES 0.00 -35.42 0.155 $8,191,001.50
BYH BRYAH RESOURCES 0.00 -40.74 0.08 $4,868,009.50
CAD CAENEUS MINERALS 0.00 -66.67 0.001 $14,063,075.00
CFE CAPE LAMBERT RESOURCES 0.00 -73.77 0.016 $16,214,425.00
CCZ CASTILLO COPPER 0.00 -75.00 0.016 $10,265,512.00
CDT CASTLE MINERALS 0.00 -60.00 0.008 $1,790,367.75
CHK COHIBA MINERALS 0.00 25.00 0.015 $9,304,599.00
CZN CORAZON MINING 0.00 -76.47 0.004 $5,061,133.50
CXO CORE LITHIUM 0.00 -21.33 0.059 $40,938,132.00
CZR COZIRON RESOURCES 0.00 -47.37 0.01 $17,855,512.00
CGN CRATER GOLD MINING 0.00 -23.53 0.013 $23,614,774.00
DHR DARK HORSE RESOURCES 0.00 -81.82 0.004 $8,892,390.00
DEG DE GREY MINING 0.00 0.00 0.115 $48,662,916.00
DGR DGR GLOBAL 0.00 25.00 0.12 $73,581,824.00
EME ENERGY METALS 0.00 15.00 0.115 $24,113,580.00
EUR EUROPEAN LITHIUM 0.00 -60.87 0.088 $49,492,940.00
FEL FE 0.00 -67.27 0.018 $6,725,303.50
GPP GREENPOWER ENERGY 0.00 -78.57 0.003 $6,261,481.50
HNR HANNANS 0.00 -57.14 0.008 $17,891,590.00
HWK HAWKSTONE MINING 0.00 -25.00 0.018 $10,836,042.00
IDA INDIANA RESOURCES 0.00 -11.85 0.054 $5,167,087.50
KAI KAIROS MINERALS 0.00 -45.00 0.022 $19,602,276.00
KLH KALIA 0.00 -70.00 0.003 $7,543,042.00
KSN KINGSTON RESOURCES 0.00 -28.00 0.018 $22,017,570.00
KTA KRAKATOA RESOURCES 0.00 -44.44 0.025 $3,525,000.00
LTR LIONTOWN RESOURCES 0.00 -36.84 0.025 $26,081,712.00
LI3 LITHIUM CONSOLIDATED 0.00 -43.20 0.071 $6,448,370.50
MQR MARQUEE RESOURCES 0.00 -87.23 0.06 $2,564,657.00
MCT METALICITY 0.00 -70.83 0.014 $8,434,492.00
OMH OM 0.00 12.44 1.335 $974,982,784.00
PMY PACIFICO MINERALS 0.00 -50.00 0.005 $6,585,751.50
PNN PEPINNINI LITHIUM 0.00 -87.50 0.005 $2,882,697.75
RMX RED MOUNTAIN MINING 0.00 -50.00 0.006 $4,668,220.50
RDS REDSTONE RESOURCES 0.00 38.53 0.015 $7,535,429.00
RLC REEDY LAGOON CORP 0.00 -87.50 0.006 $2,413,630.25
RNU RENASCOR RESOURCES 0.00 -60.47 0.017 $19,608,214.00
RIE RIEDEL RESOURCES 0.00 -83.16 0.016 $6,689,115.00
SXX SOUTHERN CROSS EXPLORATION 0.00 -14.29 0.006 $6,461,059.00
SUH SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE MINING 0.00 -70.48 0.031 $2,742,553.50
SEI SPECIALITY METALS INTERNATIONAL 0.00 -27.27 0.024 $13,317,034.00
SRK STRIKE RESOURCES 0.00 -29.23 0.046 $6,685,376.50
THX THUNDELARRA 0.00 -51.85 0.013 $8,399,246.00
TNG TNG 0.00 -29.03 0.115 $101,164,080.00
VMS VENTURE MINERALS 0.00 -40.00 0.021 $10,932,852.00
VML VITAL METALS 0.00 -11.11 0.009 $15,683,502.00
MIN MINERAL RESOURCES -0.32 -14.47 15.41 $2,973,658,880.00
ARL ARDEA RESOURCES -0.94 -63.41 0.525 $55,119,968.00
CZI CASSINI RESOURCES -1.19 3.75 0.083 $28,677,088.00
ORE OROCOBRE -1.83 -54.92 3.22 $870,904,896.00
OKR OKAPI RESOURCES -2.17 -61.54 0.225 $7,727,145.00
NMT NEOMETALS -2.27 -43.20 0.22 $114,234,600.00
POS POSEIDON NICKEL -2.50 -18.75 0.041 $103,065,368.00
SVM SOVEREIGN METALS -2.53 -42.96 0.077 $21,874,790.00
MTC METALSTECH -2.78 -85.11 0.035 $4,093,386.00
N27 NORTHERN COBALT -2.78 -85.42 0.07 $3,591,938.50
MXR MAXIMUS RESOURCES -2.86 -40.87 0.068 $2,270,476.25
TLG TALGA RESOURCES -2.86 -51.43 0.35 $74,185,504.00
COB COBALT BLUE -2.94 -74.81 0.17 $20,557,934.00
FGR FIRST GRAPHENE -3.03 10.34 0.16 $68,257,032.00
MZZ MATADOR MINING -3.03 -52.94 0.15 $8,351,917.00
LKE LAKE RESOURCES -3.23 -62.50 0.058 $21,968,506.00
KOR KORAB RESOURCES -3.45 0.00 0.028 $8,647,967.00
AGY ARGOSY MINERALS -3.57 -60.87 0.135 $124,672,040.00
HXG HEXAGON RESOURCES -3.57 -41.30 0.135 $39,390,760.00
AXE ARCHER EXPLORATION -3.90 -32.73 0.074 $14,739,581.00
ASN ANSON RESOURCES -4.35 -69.30 0.066 $32,693,914.00
LIT LITHIUM AUSTRALIA -4.35 -53.68 0.09 $42,216,672.00
BUX BUXTON RESOURCES -4.76 -23.08 0.1 $14,966,098.00
GXY GALAXY RESOURCES -4.81 -38.13 1.995 $815,048,064.00
BAR BARRA RESOURCES -5.26 -33.33 0.035 $19,400,066.00
NWC NEW WORLD COBALT -5.56 -84.55 0.017 $9,375,800.00
POW PROTEAN ENERGY -5.56 -56.41 0.017 $5,221,193.00
PM1 PURE MINERALS -5.56 -10.53 0.017 $5,344,444.00
GPX GRAPHEX MINING -5.56 -46.88 0.175 $15,594,610.00
CLQ CLEAN TEQ -5.75 -70.61 0.405 $305,993,664.00
CNJ CONICO -5.88 -62.79 0.016 $5,276,374.00
AUR AURIS MINERALS -6.25 -40.00 0.045 $12,260,440.00
SVD SCANDIVANADIUM -6.67 -44.74 0.014 $4,926,125.50
SCI SILVER CITY MINERALS -7.14 -67.50 0.013 $3,818,233.25
TAR TARUGA MINERALS -7.27 -47.42 0.051 $7,199,529.00
K KIBARAN RESOURCES -7.69 -20.00 0.1225 $34,460,120.00
RTR RUMBLE RESOURCES -8.16 -13.46 0.045 $16,066,274.00
E25 ELEMENT 25 -8.57 -37.25 0.17 $13,854,118.00
PSC PROSPECT RESOURCES -9.09 -71.83 0.02 $42,968,416.00
AVZ AVZ MINERALS -9.26 -84.19 0.051 $86,869,224.00
GED GOLDEN DEEPS -9.30 -31.58 0.039 $7,026,612.50
AJM ALTURA MINING -9.38 -57.97 0.145 $263,953,136.00
NVA NOVA MINERALS -9.52 -53.66 0.019 $13,970,415.00
CUL CULLEN RESOURCES -10.00 -56.68 0.018 $3,050,367.00
HGM HIGH GRADE METALS -10.00 -86.36 0.009 $3,623,503.00
AEE AURA ENERGY -10.53 -22.73 0.017 $18,550,138.00
PSM PENINSULA MINES -11.11 -71.43 0.004 $3,882,924.50
INR IONEER -12.50 -60.00 0.14 $221,247,520.00
TRT TODD RIVER RESOURCES -12.68 -59.20 0.066 $9,995,584.00
ZNC ZENITH MINERALS -12.68 -67.37 0.062 $12,978,490.00
AMD ARROW MINERALS -13.33 -58.06 0.013 $4,718,109.00
BPL BROKEN HILL PROSPECTING -13.33 -60.61 0.026 $4,288,618.50
NZC NZURI COPPER -13.64 -43.28 0.19 $57,701,572.00
ADN ANDROMEDA METALS -14.29 -25.00 0.0065 $6,506,533.50
SRN SUREFIRE RESOURCES -14.29 -65.00 0.006 $2,643,921.75
TKL TRAKA RESOURCES -15.79 -75.38 0.016 $5,301,136.50
DTM DART MINING -16.67 -43.02 0.005 $5,568,257.00
LRS LATIN RESOURCES -16.67 -75.00 0.0025 $7,082,787.50
LML LINCOLN MINERALS -16.67 -85.71 0.006 $3,449,902.00
MZN MARINDI METALS -16.67 -58.33 0.005 $9,923,794.00
MRR MINREX RESOURCES -16.67 -79.17 0.019 $1,917,554.50
BSX BLACKSTONE MINERALS -18.18 -82.44 0.072 $8,115,357.50
MEI METEORIC RESOURCES -18.18 -82.35 0.009 $5,744,557.50
VRC VOLT RESOURCES -20.83 -42.42 0.019 $26,198,606.00
TKM TREK METALS -22.22 -76.67 0.007 $2,498,429.00
MLS METALS AUSTRALIA -25.00 -57.14 0.003 $7,025,393.50
WCN WHITE CLIFF MINERALS -26.09 -89.75 0.017 $3,926,580.00
ENT ENTERPRISE METALS -27.27 -46.67 0.008 $4,268,690.50
SYR SYRAH RESOURCES -27.64 -61.60 1.495 $537,778,112.00
4CE FORCE COMMODITIES -28.57 -89.69 0.011 $5,086,990.50
SBR SABRE RESOURCES -28.57 -77.27 0.005 $2,441,841.75
CGM COUGAR METALS -33.33 -77.78 0.002 $1,955,605.38
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