High Voltage: Bottlenecks are a pain in the arse, just ask Pilbara Minerals

Tesla is on track for another record quarter, which should shush the naysayers for a minute or two.

A tie-up between VW and Ford – to work together on EVs and automation — looks close to being finalised and could be announced as early as July.

And Honda claims it already has over 31,000 reservations for the unreleased ‘e’ model; all from Europe.

Demand for EVs is strong, and yet automakers can’t get their hands on enough batteries.

Which is why VW and BMW Group were amongst a group of investors keen to finance Europe’s first battery gigafactories in Sweden and Germany. VW alone will spend $1.47 billion on the Northvolt venture.

Lithium-ion’s supply chain issues, characteristic of fast growing industries, are far from being resolved. These ‘bottlenecks’ go all the way back to the lithium chemical production stage.

This is a very basic overview of the lithium-ion battery supply chain.

On Monday, producer Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) told investors that spodumene concentrate sales would be “constrained” in June and July.

Underlying demand for battery-ready lithium chemicals remained strong, it says. The issue is delays in the construction, commissioning and build-out of chemical conversion capacity (producing lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide) in China.

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

Pilbara Minerals’ managing director Ken Brinsden said it was no secret that the spodumene supply market was experiencing “short-term challenges” as the big Chinese players slowly ramped up chemical conversion capacity to meet demand.

“We remain confident that the underlying fundamentals of the lithium market remain strong – as evidenced by the growing number of agreements being made by major car manufacturers further down the supply chain in both Chinese and global markets, to shore up lithium supply to meet their long-term EV production and energy storage market targets,” Brinsden says.

“Our strategy remains unchanged, and we will continue to work to expand the project as planned and diversify our supply chain to become a fully integrated participant in the lithium raw material and chemical supply chain.”

Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Join our small cap Facebook group
Follow us on Facebook or Twitter

SMALL CAP SPOTLIGHT

Of the companies on our list, 81 lost ground, 60 were ahead and 50 were steady this week.

The lithium triangle strikes again

Marquee Resources (ASX:MQR) may have snagged itself a stake in an Argentinean lithium brine project – news which sent the stock up a whopping 221 per cent.

We shouldn’t be surprised though.

Every company that picks up ground in the lithium triangle – which accounts for half the world’s supply — seems to do well.

Just look at Lake Resources (ASX: LKE), BMG Resources (ASX:BMG) and Galan Lithium (ASX: GLN).

BMG’s share price, for example, has now run up 160 per cent since the start of February – and it’s all because of lithium in Chile.

For Marquee, the deal would see it get a 30 per cent project stake, with the other 70 per cent held by fellow ASX-lister Lithium Power International (ASX:LPI).

The project leases cover an area of 68 sq km in the Centenario Lithium Brine Salar, right in the centre of the lithium triangle – the place where small cap dreams are made.

Another week, another Celsius share price increase (for no reason)

Something is seriously going on over at cashed up shell company Celsius Resources (ASX:CLA), which was up another 49 per cent last week to 6.6c per share — the highest point since January this year.

As we’ve noted previously, Celsius essentially became a shell after it all but stopped evaluation work on its Opuwo cobalt project in Namibia due to the languishing cobalt price.

BUT, as per the company’s latest response to the ASX in May:

“The Company … is evaluating additional opportunities since slowing work on the Opuwo cobalt project and will update the market in due course should any of these opportunities be advanced.”

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	Share Price [Jun 17 intraday]	1 Week Total Return %	1 Year Total Return %	Market Cap
MQR	MARQUEE RESOURCES	0.093	221	-61	$2,569,658.09
HGM	HIGH GRADE METALS	0.004	50	-88	$1,564,900.24
CLA	CELSIUS RESOURCES	0.044	49	-67	$30,347,785.10
PSM	PENINSULA MINES	0.003	33	-60	$2,744,298.32
ENT	ENTERPRISE METALS	0.006	29	-50	$1,941,633.43
SO4	SALT LAKE POTASH	0.549	25	39	$102,996,875.58
TKM	TREK METALS	0.003	25	-75	$863,207.20
BSX	BLACKSTONE MINERALS	0.066	25	-52	$7,768,800.89
INF	INFINITY LITHIUM	0.062	23	7	$9,855,617.39
POW	PROTEAN ENERGY	0.008	22	-69	$1,721,625.08
JRL	JINDALEE RESOURCES	0.292	21	31	$8,463,485.97
SVM	SOVEREIGN METALS	0.082	21	24	$28,549,681.52
VRC	VOLT RESOURCES	0.016	21	0	$22,126,178.83
MTH	MITHRIL RESOURCES	0.004	20	-54	$1,459,354.65
GED	GOLDEN DEEPS	0.021	20	-21	$2,960,602.91
FGR	FIRST GRAPHENE	0.213	17	100	$81,871,519.02
PM1	PURE MINERALS	0.014	17	31	$5,045,170.55
NVA	NOVA MINERALS	0.014	17	-38	$11,233,460.30
GWR	GWR GROUP	0.097	17	-13	$24,525,275.50
BKT	BLACK ROCK MINING	0.072	17	139	$44,507,718.09
TNO	TANDO RESOURCES	0.050	16	-62	$11,036,671.80
MLM	METALLICA MINERALS	0.010	15	-66	$3,582,668.04
MZZ	MATADOR MINING	0.182	15	-2	$11,128,554.75
EUC	EUROPEAN COBALT	0.016	15	-63	$11,052,989.76
KTA	KRAKATOA RESOURCES	0.016	15	-34	$1,867,427.46
RIE	RIEDEL RESOURCES	0.006	14	-88	$2,311,089.18
ARU	ARAFURA RESOURCES	0.082	14	32	$78,292,680.84
INR	IONEER	0.110	14	-62	$163,074,172.16
MTC	METALSTECH	0.012	13	-87	$1,212,226.97
ZNC	ZENITH MINERALS	0.052	12	-58	$10,144,285.39
SI6	SIX SIGMA METALS	0.004	11	-62	$1,580,673.35
SVD	SCANDIVANADIUM	0.007	11	-61	$2,431,394.70
TAR	TARUGA MINERALS	0.021	11	-84	$2,731,303.72
ADN	ANDROMEDA METALS	0.008	10	57	$9,366,499.27
VML	VITAL METALS	0.008	10	10	$12,041,443.13
LTR	LIONTOWN RESOURCES	0.079	10	286	$116,514,604.24
TNG	TNG	0.079	10	-12	$83,219,499.67
MRR	MINREX RESOURCES	0.008	9	-77	$795,018.11
ARE	ARGONAUT RESOURCES	0.005	8	-69	$6,444,462.10
CNB	CARNABY RESOURCES	0.096	8	22	$9,285,427.00
BEM	BLACKEARTH MINERALS	0.048	8	-30	$4,045,640.11
RDS	REDSTONE RESOURCES	0.010	8	-19	$4,585,130.74
RIO	RIO TINTO	72.316	7	38	$102,959,209,647.84
MIN	MINERAL RESOURCES	10.339	6	-8	$1,905,449,727.40
THR	THOR MINING	0.012	6	-53	$10,161,340.65
FEL	FE	0.013	6	-30	$5,684,600.51
LPI	LITHIUM POWER INTERNATIONAL	0.206	5	0	$54,419,128.89
OMH	OM HOLDINGS	0.594	4	-19	$451,694,019.85
VMC	VENUS METALS	0.089	4	0	$7,372,870.33
CLQ	CLEAN TEQ	0.206	3	-74	$165,057,275.78
EME	ENERGY METALS	0.106	3	-23	$23,182,586.52
CRL	COMET RESOURCES	0.022	3	-20	$5,306,879.88
PLL	PIEDMONT LITHIUM	0.113	3	-18	$74,117,249.86
EMH	EUROPEAN METALS	0.240	3	-3	$37,998,666.84
PLS	PILBARA MINERALS	0.484	3	-21	$869,945,409.40
EUR	EUROPEAN LITHIUM	0.064	2	-51	$36,700,990.98
S32	SOUTH32	2.272	2	-11	$11,169,917,239.42
BDC	BARDOC GOLD	0.038	2	-41	$47,452,931.39
ASN	ANSON RESOURCES	0.041	2	43	$21,340,138.71
NZC	NZURI COPPER	0.233	1	36	$68,497,678.66
ESR	ESTRELLA RESOURCES	0.008	0	-40	$4,031,443.17
A4N	ALPHA HPA	0.089	0	37	$50,942,591.88
KAI	KAIROS MINERALS	0.010	0	-58	$8,833,808.07
CDT	CASTLE MINERALS	0.003	0	-74	$773,215.08
KLH	KALIA	0.001	0	-83	$1,737,414.08
AZI	ALTA ZINC	0.002	0	-59	$3,776,247.89
CFE	CAPE LAMBERT RESOURCES	0.007	0	-66	$7,047,700.94
BSM	BASS METALS	0.006	0	-73	$17,474,610.17
ADV	ARDIDEN	0.002	0	-80	$3,485,501.01
PIO	PIONEER RESOURCES	0.008	0	-45	$11,457,938.55
MLS	METALS AUSTRALIA	0.001	0	-60	$3,034,040.31
CMC	CHINA MAGNESIUM	0.014	0	11	$6,390,900.62
OAR	OAKDALE RESOURCES	0.011	0	-24	$2,303,576.80
AYR	ALLOY RESOURCES	0.001	0	-67	$2,340,109.63
KDR	KIDMAN RESOURCES	1.294	0	-6	$528,661,335.08
GPP	GREENPOWER ENERGY	0.001	0	-60	$2,014,134.18
RNU	RENASCOR RESOURCES	0.014	0	-19	$16,737,340.82
DHR	DARK HORSE RESOURCES	0.003	0	-80	$5,461,903.31
CXO	CORE LITHIUM	0.029	0	-9	$19,674,933.78
AEE	AURA ENERGY	0.008	0	-48	$9,302,798.05
AUT	AUTECO MINERALS	0.003	0	25	$3,463,515.46
SYA	SAYONA MINING	0.008	0	-74	$11,902,988.84
HMX	HAMMER METALS	0.017	0	-7	$6,309,905.75
DGR	DGR GLOBAL	0.076	0	16	$44,489,409.35
BGS	BIRIMIAN	0.096	0	-72	$24,674,824.48
HXG	HEXAGON RESOURCES	0.076	0	-44	$21,170,343.43
ORN	ORION MINERALS	0.019	0	-35	$37,376,404.77
AMD	ARROW MINERALS	0.007	0	-50	$2,173,475.50
WCN	WHITE CLIFF MINERALS	0.003	0	-92	$1,787,564.62
BDI	BLINA MINERALS	0.001	0	0	$3,139,822.74
MEI	METEORIC RESOURCES	0.016	0	-26	$14,128,929.20
LML	LINCOLN MINERALS	0.004	0	-74	$2,383,882.23
LCD	LATITUDE CONSOLIDATED	0.010	0	-64	$2,471,932.90
TKL	TRAKA RESOURCES	0.009	0	-68	$3,327,868.71
AUR	AURIS MINERALS	0.013	0	-74	$5,083,178.31
HIG	HIGHLANDS PACIFIC	0.074	0	-19
MZN	MARINDI METALS	0.002	0	-77	$4,420,404.99
GBE	GLOBE METALS AND MINING	0.011	0	14	$5,151,237.66
CGM	COUGAR METALS	0.001	0	-80	$813,019.01
CGN	CRATER GOLD MINING B103:B105	0.008	0	-25	$10,178,395.23
CZN	CORAZON MINING	0.002	0	-70	$2,862,167.54
SRN	SUREFIRE RESOURCES	0.003	0	-71	$1,390,716.59
JRV	JERVOIS MINING	0.165	0	-21	$36,254,560.76
CNJ	CONICO	0.008	0	-73	$2,430,649.45
GPX	GRAPHEX MINING	0.172	0	-4	$15,531,626.01
KOR	KORAB RESOURCES	0.020	0	-3	$5,806,036.85
POS	POSEIDON NICKEL	0.025	0	0	$69,392,064.82
FCC	FIRST COBALT	0.107	0	-74	$39,869,800.82
BAT	BATTERY MINERALS	0.013	0	-46	$15,483,620.85
ORE	OROCOBRE	2.176	0	-38	$580,430,744.37
GXY	GALAXY RESOURCES	1.002	-1	-55	$417,211,948.68
CZI	CASSINI RESOURCES	0.065	-1	42	$26,701,731.97
JMS	JUPITER MINES	0.233	-1	21	$460,245,349.20
GME	GME RESOURCES	0.042	-2	-54	$20,768,352.81
TON	TRITON MINERALS	0.039	-2	-20	$34,595,223.80
SYR	SYRAH RESOURCES	0.714	-2	-63	$255,888,129.23
BAU	BAUXITE RESOURCES	0.033	-2	-16	$6,963,794.20
AXE	ARCHER EXPLORATION	0.062	-2	-14	$12,343,809.52
TMT	TECHNOLOGY METALS AUSTRALIA	0.155	-2	-51	$12,402,485.09
NMT	NEOMETALS	0.151	-2	-30	$80,815,532.84
DEG	DE GREY MINING	0.060	-2	-55	$27,182,775.76
N27	NORTHERN COBALT	0.028	-2	-84	$1,779,566.64
AGY	ARGOSY MINERALS	0.054	-2	-66	$55,380,658.13
HAV	HAVILAH RESOURCES	0.096	-3	-33	$20,359,362.35
LPD	LEPIDICO	0.019	-4	-26	$67,151,588.58
SRK	STRIKE RESOURCES	0.033	-4	-14	$4,820,446.99
CHN	CHALICE GOLD MINES	0.082	-4	14	$21,182,836.71
ERX	EXORE RESOURCES	0.049	-4	58	$23,161,664.42
PGM	PLATINA RESOURCES	0.032	-4	-43	$8,578,027.51
BPL	BROKEN HILL PROSPECTING	0.014	-5	-81	$2,145,936.04
BAR	BARRA RESOURCES	0.014	-5	-56	$8,192,216.66
AJM	ALTURA MINING	0.072	-5	-70	$154,212,921.03
GLN	GALAN LITHIUM	0.137	-5	11	$18,320,846.06
DEV	DEVEX RESOURCES	0.039	-5	-21	$5,056,586.90
VMS	VENTURE MINERALS	0.013	-5	-26	$8,101,422.02
MNS	MAGNIS ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES	0.130	-5	-50	$78,124,568.83
VXR	VENTUREX RESOURCES	0.120	-5	-3	$34,809,314.95
WKT	WALKABOUT RESOURCES	0.240	-5	159	$75,359,728.64
E25	ELEMENT 25	0.120	-5	-30	$11,404,177.37
TLG	TALGA RESOURCES	0.357	-5	-24	$80,870,978.68
PUR	PURSUIT MINERALS	0.011	-6	-82	$1,973,798.10
MXR	MAXIMUS RESOURCES	0.044	-6	-44	$1,563,724.85
PAN	PANORAMIC RESOURCES	0.209	-6	-52	$120,895,223.52
PSCDA	PROSPECT RESOURCES	0.104	-6	-64	$21,207,980.82
COB	COBALT BLUE	0.100	-6	-86	$14,501,568.91
KSN	KINGSTON RESOURCES	0.010	-7	-36	$16,246,388.10
ARL	ARDEA RESOURCES	0.268	-7	-58	$28,971,863.16
IEC	INTRA ENERGY CORP	0.009	-7	8	$3,482,924.96
RTR	RUMBLE RESOURCES	0.034	-7	-23	$14,661,988.70
SGQ	ST GEORGE MINING	0.082	-8	-14	$25,749,788.28
AUZ	AUSTRALIAN MINES	0.017	-8	-75	$53,265,849.91
BUX	BUXTON RESOURCES	0.079	-8	-23	$10,811,644.89
SUH	SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE MINING	0.022	-9	-46	$2,139,634.12
LI3	LITHIUM CONSOLIDATED	0.044	-9	-29	$4,016,517.57
IRC	INTERMIN RESOURCES	0.072	-9	-40	$17,891,877.42
ANW	AUS TIN MINING	0.007	-9	-33	$15,031,766.29
HWK	HAWKSTONE MINING	0.014	-9	18	$9,540,194.55
4CE	FORCE COMMODITIES	0.007	-9	-83	$3,522,339.60
CZR	COZIRON RESOURCES	0.007	-9	-44	$12,338,158.52
SEI	SPECIALITY METALS	0.019	-10	35	$12,787,043.17
IDA	INDIANA RESOURCES	0.019	-10	-58	$2,050,788.80
CHK	COHIBA MINERALS	0.006	-10	13	$4,133,235.76
SCI	SILVER CITY MINERALS	0.006	-10	-77	$1,826,584.00
KNL	KIBARAN RESOURCES	0.089	-10	-19	$27,297,147.31
AML	AEON METALS	0.141	-11	-41	$97,669,144.08
RMX	RED MOUNTAIN MINING	0.003	-11	-50	$2,150,493.53
BOA	BOADICEA RESOURCES	0.103	-12	76	$6,207,722.05
AVL	AUSTRALIAN VANADIUM	0.010	-12	-67	$21,822,816.02
BYH	BRYAH RESOURCES	0.046	-12	-42	$3,217,784.47
ARM	AURORA MINERALS	0.009	-13	-38	$1,133,147.38
NXE	NEW ENERGY MINERALS	0.013	-14	-90	$2,189,643.69
NWC	NEW WORLD COBALT	0.008	-14	-82	$6,402,451.38
PMY	PACIFICO MINERALS	0.004	-14	-45	$11,188,486.56
DTM	DART MINING	0.004	-14	-25	$4,193,165.49
AOU	AUROCH MINERALS	0.042	-14	-24	$4,166,876.75
WML	WOOMERA MINING	0.019	-15	-76	$2,180,605.24
LKE	LAKE RESOURCES	0.050	-16	-30	$21,967,080.23
PNN	PEPINNINI LITHIUM	0.002	-17	-87	$2,566,398.30
HNR	HANNANS	0.007	-17	-38	$13,736,765.98
AVZ	AVZ MINERALS	0.041	-18	-34	$88,505,428.44
OAU	ORA GOLD	0.006	-18	-53	$4,018,070.24
CUL	CULLEN RESOURCES	0.006	-18	-71	$1,053,901.78
CAZ	CAZALY RESOURCES	0.017	-19	-52	$5,171,731.69
SBR	SABRE RESOURCES	0.003	-20	-69	$1,124,874.99
MCT	METALICITY	0.006	-20	-68	$3,451,807.50
RLC	REEDY LAGOON	0.003	-20	-64	$1,111,879.01
TRT	TODD RIVER RESOURCES	0.028	-20	-57	$4,709,283.06
LIT	LITHIUM AUSTRALIA	0.043	-21	-45	$21,606,379.62
OKR	OKAPI RESOURCES	0.069	-23	-71	$2,610,401.18
MTB	MOUNT BURGESS MINING	0.002	-25	-57	$657,665.32
LRS	LATIN RESOURCES	0.001	-33	-85	$2,492,731.14