• Rivian plans to use a wind turbine to charge its new R1 electric vehicles
  • Pilbara Minerals has smashed its record price for spodumene with a US$6350/dmt bid
  • Freshly listed Leo Lithium is trading down 22% on its listing price today

 All your ASX lithium news for Thursday, June 23.

 

US electric vehicle (EV) maker Rivian is planning to install a large-scale wind turbine at its manufacturing plant in Illinois so its new R1 vehicles can be powered by renewables for their first charge.

The company has teamed up with Apex Clean Energy for the turbine, which will have a capacity of at least 2.8 megawatts and will be capable of generating nearly 10 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year.

That’s enough to power 890 average US homes.

“To us, our job isn’t done when our vehicles come off the line,” Rivian director of renewable energy Andrew Peterman said.

“While we’re working hard to help electrify transportation, we’re also pushing to accelerate the shift to carbon-free electricity for all.

“This wind turbine is an early step on that path, and it’s also a beacon of our vision for a clean energy future.”

Rivian has submitted a permit application to the Town of Normal, Illinois this month, after commissioning studies on potential impacts from sound and shadow flicker and to threatened and endangered species, cultural resources and communication systems.

Sound is estimated to average 35 decibels and reach a maximum of 42 decibels – about the level of a refrigerator.

 

Here’s how ASX lithium stocks were tracking today:

Lithium stocks missing from our list? Shoot a friendly mail to [email protected]

 

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Ouch. Only 14 stocks were in the green today, 29 flatlined and a massive 85 were in the red.

 

Who’s got news out today?

PILBARA MINERALS (ASX:PLS)

The company has demolished its record price for spodumene, with bid of US$6350/dmt for a 5000t shipment of 5.5% Li2O lithium concentrate that was so appealing PLS accepted the offer ahead of a planned sixth Battery Material Exchange auction today.

If the product had been sold at the benchmark spot grade of 6% Li2O it would have cost an astonishing US$7017/dmt, 6.5% higher than the equivalent price of a cargo sold at auction by PLS last month.

It comes not long after a bearish note from analysts at Goldman Sachs, predicting lithium chemical prices would fall almost 80% to US$16,000/t by next year, sent shockwaves through the market and prompted a major sell off in ASX listed lithium companies.

Pilbara Minerals’ incoming managing director and CEO Dale Henderson said the market remains in excellent health.

“This is an exceptional outcome which provides further evidence of the unprecedented demand for battery raw materials being experienced across the global lithium-ion supply chain at this time,” he said.

“Contrary to recent suggestions that the market has peaked, the evidence we are seeing at the coal-face with our customers, including this pricing outcome, suggests that demand remains incredibly strong, with a continued healthy outlook for the foreseeable future.”

All eyes will now be on a seventh auction due to be held in the second week of July.

 

LEO LITHIUM (ASX:LLL)

The near-term producer and litmus test for the lithium sector listed today at 11am AEST after an $100m IPO at $0.70.

And as of the time of writing the company was trading at $0.54 per share, down almost 22% from its listing price.

The Firefinch (ASX:FFX) spinoff is focused on the ‘Goulamina’ lithium project in Mali, which is expected to be one of the largest hard rock lithium mines in the world once it enters production in H1 2024.

Goulamina is so advanced because of all the hard work done by Firefinch — then called Biriman – during the last lithium boom.

Firefinch is to retain up to 20% of the demerged Leo, with its shareholders to receive an in-specie distribution of shares in the new company at no cost.

The project is being developed in a 50/50 joint venture with Ganfeng, the world’s largest lithium chemical producer. Ownership will be split between LLL (45%), Ganfeng (45%) and the State of Mali (10%).

Ganfeng is providing funding, offtake, and operational support to de-risk development – making this project one of the few to come online over the next few years.

Leo Lithium is targeting first production of spodumene concentrate SC6 in the first half of 2024.

“We have wasted no time in getting started with development already underway including the 2022 drilling program, procurement of long lead items and commencement of roadworks,” MD Simon Hay said.

 

PLS & LLL share prices today:

 

 

 

ALDORO RESOURCES (ASX:ARN)

Aldoro has intersected pegmatites of various intervals from <1m to 6m in the majority of holes in its maiden drilling program at Domes 1 & 2 at the Wyemandoo project in WA.

Given the continual shallow intersections to date, the company is proposing to bring in an AC Hammer drilling rig to delineate the resource potential of Dome 1.

Aldoro says it is ‘highly encouraged’ by results to date and is currently in the process of increasing the drilling program to 6,000 meters.

 

RESOURCE MINING CORP (ASX:RMI)

The company is kicking off due diligence at its Hirvikallio and Kola projects in Finland as part of its exclusive option to acquire the projects – along with the Ruossakero nickel project.

“Commencing the due diligence exploration activities at the Target Projects in Finland is an exciting next step for us as we further develop our understanding of the potential value of these nickel and lithium projects,” executive chairman Asimwe Kabunga says.

The company plans to acquire and process all relevant existing datasets, complete a general survey of the full project areas to obtain a better understanding of the local geology, to verify and correct existing geological maps and to sample relevant outcrops.

Geochemical soil sampling will also be considered at Hirvikallio where historic intersections include 5m at 2.30% Li2O.

 

GREEN TECHNOLOGY METALS (ASX:GT1)

The company has doubled the interim mineral resource estimate for its Seymour project in Canada to 9.9 Mt at 1.04% Li2O, and increased the indicated category mineral resource to 5.2 Mt at 1.29% Li2O.

“The result is a demonstration of the clear potential that exists at our flagship Seymour asset, and we remain focussed on delivering further high-grade resource growth over the second half of 2022,” CEO Luke Cox says.

The company thinks there’s also substantial further resource growth across the Aubry complex and the broader Seymour Project, with specific step-out and exploration drilling targets set to be tested in H2 2022.

 

DART MINING (ASX:DTM)

X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis of 74 samples demonstrate that lithium mineralisation is dominantly spodumene at DTM’s ‘Dorchap Range’ project in Victoria.

This is a good thing, as spodumene is the primary ore mineral mined globally for hard-rock lithium deposits.

Notable concentrations of spodumene and petalite lie within a large 20×12km zone at Dorchap, DTM says.

XRD uses x-ray beams to reveal an average bulk mineralogical composition.

“Confirmation of spodumene as the primary mineralisation style, with subsidiary petalite in pegmatites, further underscores the importance of Dart’s Dorchap lithium project,” chairman James Chirnside says.

“These latest XRD analyses across the project demonstrates the effectiveness of geochemical mapping for pin-pointing the main target area for lithium prospectivity.”

 

MORELLA CORP (ASX:1MC)

The company has flagged lithium targets at its Mt Edon project in WA, with 53 pegmatite outcrops mapped.

Morella is planning a geophysics program to delineate future drilling targets.

“There is clearly potential at Mt Edon, and this warrants further exploration effort,” CEO Alex Cheeseman says.

“Morella will now spend time and effort to develop and refine potential drilling targets and look forward to continuing to advance the project.”

 

ARN, RMI, GT1, DTM and 1MC share prices today:

 

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