High Voltage: here’s all the latest news driving battery metals stocks

Each week our new High Voltage column wraps the big news driving battery metal stocks.

We also track a list of ASX 200 battery metals stocks including explorers with exposure to lithium, cobalt, graphite, manganese and vanadium — stocks that are used in energy storage and generally driven by battery news, even if their main application is not yet battery storage.

>> Scroll down for a a list of ASX battery metal stocks with exposure to lithium, cobalt, graphite, manganese and vanadium

Lithium developer Kidman (ASX:KDR) was one of the biggest battery metal movers this week, gaining 33 per cent ahead of an announcement.

In May, Kidman (ASX:KDR) made history as the first Australian miner to lock in a supply deal with EV behemoth Tesla. 

The $500 million stock went into a trading halt on Thursday and is due to make an announcement by Monday.

The other key small cap movers were Force Commodities (28 per cent), Ardiden (25 per cent) and Devex Resources (20 per cent).

Among the bigger stocks, lithium player Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) gained a solid 10.6 per cent as it looks to bounce back from a few months of declines.

Pilbara Minerals — which owns  the Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum project — has had no news in the past two weeks, but plans to increase production at its flagship mine are building momentum.

Argentina- focused lithium producer Orocobre (ASX:ORE) moved the needle a much-needed 9.3 per cent, as it looks to gain back some of the ground it lost when this happened.

At the bottom end, disappointing drilling results from a nickel project in WA has sent junior explorer Mithril Resources (ASX:MTH) shares plummeting 30.7 per cent for the week.

But it’s not all bad, because a sample of historic drilling returning 1.5 per cent copper and 1.1 per cent cobalt on a new tenement in the projects southern area.

The share price of one-time market darling Australian Mines (ASX:AUZ) continues its slow decline, falling 26 per cent after it reported a $12m investment agreement with a New York-based fund managed by Bergen Asset Management.

Australian Mines investors are impatiently waiting for the outcome of a bankable feasibility study on its flagship Sconi Cobalt-Nickel-Scandium Project in Queensland — which should be out any week now.

Industry News

Lithium stocks in particular haven’t had a good run this year — but investors needn’t worry, says a battery metals specialist for S&P Global Platts.

“Platts Analytics research shows that by 2025 in the European Union we’ll have about 30 per cent EV [electric vehicle] penetration, China 15 per cent and the US 8 per cent,” Marcel Goldenberg said.

“That compares to 1 to 3 per cent as of 2018.”

And the supply of cobalt will need to more than double to meet demand from electric car makers, the boss of Canadian cobalt play Cobalt 27 told Bloomberg this week. 

The latest research on EV emissions from researchers Wood Mackenzie shows that EV’s reduce emissions by 67 per cent – which could drive even faster uptake. 

The week prior India’s transport minister cited pollution as the main reason for accelerating India’s adoption of EV; the country now wants 15 per cent of all its vehicles to be electric in five years in an effort to combat pollution. 

Here’s a table of 200 ASX battery metal stocks with exposure to lithium, cobalt, graphite, manganese and vanadium

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort.