Eye on Lithium: Carbonate price rally slows in March, hydroxide maintains momentum

Benchmark’s lithium price index was up 20.3% month-on-month for March
Latin has picked up a 50-hectare lithium tenement just east of Brazilian project
Askari identifies pegmatites in a previously unexplored area of its Barrow Creek project in the NT

All your ASX lithium news for Wednesday, April 6.

Benchmark has released its lithium price assessment for March and it looks like the Chinese carbonate rally has slowed while domestic hydroxide prices maintain upward momentum.

“Lithium carbonate price increases in the Chinese domestic market eased in the second half of March as a result of hesitance from buyers to surpass the RMB 500,000/tonne ($79,000) boundary,” Benchmark said.

“Meanwhile, domestic Chinese lithium hydroxide prices continued to move upwards, narrowing the price disparity that opened up between carbonate and hydroxide in the second half of 2021.”

Benchmark’s own price index has seen a 20.3% increase month-on-month.

“Internationally, prices for small spot volumes of both lithium carbonate and hydroxide continued to move closer to parity with the Chinese spot market, whilst contracts which are not set to be renegotiated until the end of the quarter held the lower end of pricing stable,” they said.

“As such, the Benchmark Lithium Price Index saw an increase of 20.3% m-o-m. In a bid to secure future traditional lithium feedstock supply amid tightening availability, downstream supply chain participants signed spodumene offtake agreements in March.”

Here’s how ASX lithium stocks are tracking today:

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Code	Company	Price	% Month	% Week	% Today	Market Cap
TEM	Tempest Minerals	0.125	443%	52%	19%	$41,779,594.29
IPT	Impact Minerals	0.014	8%	17%	17%	$26,285,539.03
ENT	Enterprise Metals	0.022	57%	57%	16%	$12,248,290.25
LRS	Latin Resources Ltd	0.19	387%	150%	15%	$266,134,463.93
LSR	Lodestar Minerals	0.02	54%	54%	11%	$31,291,872.26
JRL	Jindalee Resources	4.08	37%	35%	9%	$212,531,543.18
AS2	Askarimetalslimited	0.65	73%	19%	9%	$22,996,769.64
SYA	Sayona Mining Ltd	0.33	154%	40%	6%	$2,200,819,025.10
QXR	Qx Resources Limited	0.087	85%	43%	6%	$68,130,710.32
EPM	Eclipse Metals	0.038	65%	36%	6%	$69,160,550.87
TMB	Tambourahmetals	0.29	35%	16%	5%	$11,327,964.45
MM1	Midasmineralsltd	0.21	31%	24%	5%	$10,687,625.00
PNN	PepinNini Minerals	0.62	51%	38%	4%	$36,424,896.83
AGY	Argosy Minerals Ltd	0.525	64%	24%	4%	$669,451,726.92
RAS	Ragusa Minerals Ltd	0.087	64%	7%	4%	$10,555,257.72
MIN	Mineral Resources.	60.69	27%	21%	2%	$11,268,692,090.37
NWM	Norwest Minerals	0.062	11%	-2%	2%	$11,017,050.61
MXR	Maximus Resources	0.076	19%	21%	1%	$23,842,932.60
CAI	Calidus Resources	0.975	23%	-2%	1%	$390,228,097.76
1MC	Morella Corporation	0.037	54%	3%	0%	$191,519,917.48
ARN	Aldoro Resources	0.29	-19%	-8%	0%	$26,024,190.81
ASN	Anson Resources Ltd	0.155	24%	11%	0%	$158,324,991.03
AVW	Avira Resources Ltd	0.007	40%	40%	0%	$14,831,530.00
AX8	Accelerate Resources	0.065	44%	10%	0%	$16,474,828.44
BYH	Bryah Resources Ltd	0.053	10%	10%	0%	$11,988,980.28
DTM	Dart Mining NL	0.083	-2%	-1%	0%	$10,332,747.19
FRS	Forrestaniaresources	0.36	-8%	3%	0%	$10,115,569.44
GSM	Golden State Mining	0.11	39%	29%	0%	$9,139,678.35
INF	Infinity Lithium	0.175	13%	6%	0%	$72,595,152.18
KAI	Kairos Minerals Ltd	0.029	32%	0%	0%	$56,900,711.24
M2R	Miramar	0.175	6%	3%	0%	$8,717,628.50
NVA	Nova Minerals Ltd	0.95	61%	14%	0%	$171,192,170.75
QPM	Queensland Pacific	0.215	43%	19%	0%	$331,769,323.17
RMX	Red Mount Min Ltd	0.009	13%	-5%	0%	$14,781,274.72
SCN	Scorpion Minerals	0.067	-6%	8%	0%	$18,056,914.86
SHH	Shree Minerals Ltd	0.016	-6%	0%	0%	$19,555,790.27
SRI	Sipa Resources Ltd	0.051	-6%	6%	0%	$10,456,264.95
SRZ	Stellar Resources	0.028	8%	8%	0%	$23,444,473.53
THR	Thor Mining PLC	0.017	21%	21%	0%	$15,871,176.08
TON	Triton Min Ltd	0.034	17%	21%	0%	$42,254,662.02
TSC	Twenty Seven Co. Ltd	0.004	-11%	0%	0%	$10,643,255.62
VMC	Venus Metals Cor Ltd	0.185	3%	3%	0%	$27,949,556.36
WC8	Wildcat Resources	0.035	17%	-5%	0%	$22,584,545.45
PSC	Prospect Res Ltd	0.885	5%	1%	-1%	$383,851,372.53
VUL	Vulcan Energy	10.1	11%	2%	-1%	$1,338,830,565.30
GLN	Galan Lithium Ltd	2.15	57%	20%	-1%	$660,520,575.54
LEL	Lithenergy	1.02	11%	13%	-1%	$46,350,000.00
WR1	Winsome Resources	0.51	44%	4%	-1%	$69,246,896.91
RIO	Rio Tinto Limited	119.05	-6%	2%	-1%	$44,635,037,571.36
CRR	Critical Resources	0.091	18%	21%	-1%	$136,655,558.18
IGO	IGO Limited	14.395	18%	3%	-1%	$11,025,819,357.28
AKE	Allkem Limited	13.21	33%	17%	-2%	$8,557,371,514.12
AM7	Arcadia Minerals	0.265	20%	4%	-2%	$9,447,975.00
LRV	Larvottoresources	0.235	27%	-2%	-2%	$9,889,800.00
LIT	Lithium Australia NL	0.1125	7%	2%	-2%	$118,870,465.76
CHR	Charger Metals	0.82	21%	18%	-2%	$27,354,069.12
LPD	Lepidico Ltd	0.041	28%	11%	-2%	$263,541,935.92
MRR	Minrex Resources Ltd	0.08	38%	31%	-2%	$73,135,881.43
BMM	Balkanminingandmin	0.37	37%	14%	-3%	$12,445,000.00
STM	Sunstone Metals Ltd	0.074	-5%	-4%	-3%	$170,203,594.40
RGL	Riversgold	0.097	296%	102%	-3%	$46,967,622.26
WCN	White Cliff Min Ltd	0.036	38%	50%	-3%	$24,073,176.76
PAM	Pan Asia Metals	0.535	1%	1%	-3%	$40,512,254.20
GT1	Greentechnology	0.88	9%	4%	-3%	$95,930,000.00
RAG	Ragnar Metals Ltd	0.033	22%	6%	-3%	$12,671,286.23
AZI	Altamin Limited	0.094	38%	29%	-3%	$37,720,579.34
EFE	Eastern Resources	0.058	18%	18%	-3%	$59,382,510.36
BNR	Bulletin Res Ltd	0.26	73%	21%	-4%	$78,316,175.70
AML	Aeon Metals Ltd.	0.074	48%	19%	-4%	$66,667,284.38
KGD	Kula Gold Limited	0.048	7%	4%	-4%	$10,758,781.60
WML	Woomera Mining Ltd	0.023	35%	28%	-4%	$16,483,993.58
KZR	Kalamazoo Resources	0.34	17%	-7%	-4%	$51,544,002.77
ESS	Essential Metals Ltd	0.545	56%	18%	-4%	$139,275,715.20
EVR	Ev Resources Ltd	0.063	21%	21%	-5%	$61,114,948.69
MTM	Mtmongerresources	0.21	27%	14%	-5%	$7,625,207.26
ZNC	Zenith Minerals Ltd	0.41	19%	9%	-5%	$147,878,786.65
GL1	Globallith	2.45	50%	9%	-5%	$405,589,109.18
PLS	Pilbara Min Ltd	3.38	20%	4%	-5%	$10,567,761,385.15
MNS	Magnis Energy Tech	0.495	15%	3%	-5%	$502,208,371.08
NMT	Neometals Ltd	1.74	17%	5%	-5%	$1,006,270,686.66
CXO	Core Lithium	1.3925	47%	8%	-5%	$2,521,141,458.99
LTR	Liontown Resources	1.88	21%	-2%	-6%	$4,362,528,144.02
IMI	Infinitymining	0.17	0%	13%	-6%	$10,350,000.00
RLC	Reedy Lagoon Corp.	0.034	36%	17%	-6%	$19,740,860.28
RDT	Red Dirt Metals Ltd	0.67	26%	-1%	-6%	$212,426,297.28
A8G	Australasian Metals	0.5	6%	4%	-6%	$21,290,361.82
LKE	Lake Resources	2.12	114%	10%	-6%	$2,874,470,580.00
INR	Ioneer Ltd	0.725	38%	24%	-6%	$1,609,722,267.23
G88	Golden Mile Res Ltd	0.064	8%	7%	-6%	$13,649,817.75
AAJ	Aruma Resources Ltd	0.155	80%	55%	-6%	$25,898,648.00
MQR	Marquee Resource Ltd	0.115	10%	15%	-6%	$26,778,818.75
EMH	European Metals Hldg	1.36	13%	11%	-6%	$204,126,599.25
EMS	Eastern Metals	0.215	2%	16%	-7%	$8,188,000.00
ADV	Ardiden Ltd	0.014	17%	8%	-7%	$39,909,635.34
AVZ	AVZ Minerals Ltd	1.1425	25%	-7%	-7%	$4,228,777,273.00
FFX	Firefinch Ltd	1.1325	63%	20%	-7%	$1,435,210,513.52
MMC	Mitremining	0.2	3%	5%	-7%	$5,823,296.50
AZL	Arizona Lithium Ltd	0.195	39%	30%	-7%	$427,618,629.27
LPI	Lithium Pwr Int Ltd	0.895	40%	36%	-8%	$340,416,226.80
PGD	Peregrine Gold	0.5	-4%	6%	-8%	$20,866,234.61
DRE	Dreadnought Resources Ltd	0.044	10%	16%	-8%	$136,256,810.45
TKL	Traka Resources	0.011	0%	10%	-8%	$8,265,294.73
VKA	Viking Mines Ltd	0.011	-8%	0%	-8%	$12,303,101.17
CZL	Cons Zinc Ltd	0.037	32%	28%	-10%	$12,355,670.33
FG1	Flynngold	0.185	12%	32%	-10%	$13,132,515.25
AOA	Ausmon Resorces	0.009	29%	13%	-10%	$8,572,893.43
PLL	Piedmont Lithium Inc	0.925	16%	-3%	-10%	$543,397,924.00
EUR	European Lithium Ltd	0.14	40%	-7%	-13%	$184,301,503.84
MLS	Metals Australia	0.135	53%	45%	-13%	$56,408,854.73

Only 19 stocks were in the green today, with 25 flatlining and 66 in the red.

Who’s got news out today?

LATIN RESOURCES (ASX:LRS)

The lithium explorer has secured an additional 50-hectare lithium tenement to the east of its ‘Salinas’ project in the Bananal Valley district in eastern Brazil.

The Monte Alto tenement area has known outcropping spodumene bearing pegmatites, grading up to 2.30% Li2O from recent surface sampling by Latin’s geology team.

The company says it will immediately relocate one of the two drilling rigs on site to the new Monte Alto tenement area to commence an initial 2,000m reconnaissance drilling program.

LRS Share price today

ASKARI METALS (ASX:AS2)

The company has identified extensive pegmatite outcrops at a previously unexplored SE area of its Barrow Creek lithium project in the NT.

“We mapped and sampled over the 6km of strike and sampled every pegmatite outcrop available,” VP exploration and geology Johan Lambrects said.

“The pegmatites in this South-Eastern area and visually similar to the fertile pegmatites identified in the Northern area, but are significantly more numerous and larger.”

The company says a total of 69 rock samples were sent to the lab, with assay results expected in May/June.

AS2 Share price today

ARGOSY MINERALS (ASX:AGY)

Argosy commenced seismic surveying works at the Tonopah Lithium Project in Nevada. The next stage exploration works will comprise drilling the lithium brine targets, to determine lithium brine potential set for later in 2022.

“We expect these works to realise the potential of our strategic project in an established “Tier-1” mining region,” MD Jerko Zuvela said.

“The significant impetus for local lithium supply in the USA has become critical, and our Tonopah Lithium Project is in prime position and enhances Argosy’s value to all strategic groups across the battery and EV industry supply chain.”

AGY Share price today

VULCAN ENERGY (ASX:VUL)

Vulcan has executed an agreement to supply German energy company, MVV, with 240 gigawatt hours per year of renewable heat.

Essentially, the company is aiming to produce both renewable geothermal energy and lithium hydroxide for electric vehicle batteries from the same deep brine source in its Zero Carbon Lithium project in Germany.

The heat will be supplied from Vulcan’s planned geothermal wells in the area surrounding the City of Mannheim. Heat will be transferred via heating grids and a series of underground pipes that deliver hot water or steam to buildings in the local community.

Vulcan is developing its Mannheim licence as part of a planned larger Phase 2 of the project.

“We believe that Geothermal renewable energy on a mass scale, combined with lithium extraction from the same deep geothermal source, can and will play an important part in achieving Europe and Germany’s energy security and independence,” MD Dr Francis Wedin said.

VUL Share price today

LITHIUM ENERGY (ASX:LEL)

The company has received Environmental Impact Assessment approval to explore a second key tenement at its Solaroz lithium brine project in Argentina’s Lithium Triangle.

The 543 hectare Mario Angel tenement is on the western side of the lithium rich Olaroz Salar, just 6km west of Allkem’s (ASX:AKE) brine production fields for its Olaroz processing facility.

Another six tenements are expected to be granted shortly, enabling LEL to get to work proving up its exploration target of 1.5-8.7Mt of lithium carbonate equivalent at a lithium concentration of 500mg/L to 700 mg/L.

LEL Share price today

CRITICAL RESOURCES (ASX:CRR)

Drilling approvals have been received for the company’s Mavis Lake project in Canada, with plans to kick off the 5,000m diamond drilling program in mid-April.

Previous drill programs have yielded high-grade Li2O intercepts including:

25m at 1.04% Li2O from 80.75m; and
30m at 1.70% Li2O from 111.9m, including 7.70m at 2.97% Li2O from 130.5m.

“We believe that our asset base in Canada and our exploration strategy in country will position the company as a key player in Ontario’s lithium sector,” MD Alex Biggs said.

CRR Share price today

LARVOTTO RESOURCES (AX:LRV)

Larvotto has applied for an exploration licence adjoining its Eyre Project in Western Australia (E63/2213), increasing its landholding to a total of approximately 667km2.

The ground was applied for on the basis of an airborne magnetic geophysical survey that has indicated the presence of interesting rock units within the tenement which is immediately east of the company’s Merivale lithium prospect and south of Liontown Resources Limited’s (ASX:LTR) Buldania lithium project.

Larvotto will commence an auger soil geochemical sampling program as soon as Native Title approvals are received to test two initial areas, prospective for lithium and base metals, where historical exploration has identified broad anomalous zones.

LRV Share price today

LITHIUM AUSTRALIA (ASX:LIT)

The company has selected Lycopodium to assist with the definitive feasibility study for its 10,000 tonnes per annum lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) production plant.

LIT says its DFS activities have been expanded to include early-stage, semi-commercial LFP production, to support the final stages of product pre-qualification – and it expects to advance offtake discussions in parallel with the DFS.

LIT Share price today

MARQUEE RESOURCES (ASX:MQR)

MQR has received firm commitments for a placement to raise A$5,705,505 at A$0.105 per share with the funds to be used for drilling and exploration work at its Kibby Basin Lithium Project and West Spargoville Lithium Project – among others.

The plan is to also raise up to $2m via a share purchase plan on the same terms.

The Kibby Basin drill campaign will commence in late April.

Notably, the project is located ~50kms north of Ioneer’s(ASX:INR) flagship Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project which has recently been joint ventured with Sibanye Stillwater Limited to develop the project, with Sibanye-Stillwater contributing US$490 million for a 50% interest in the joint venture.