High Voltage: Price rallies all round for the three amigos nickel, cobalt and lithium

Our High Voltage column wraps all the news driving ASX stocks with exposure to lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, rare earths, and vanadium.

Lithium carbonate prices are going gangbusters off the back of limited supply and stable lithium-ion battery demand in China.

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence’s mid-October lithium price assessment saw battery grade carbonate up 15.6% in two weeks and upper-range LiOH prices nearing $30/kg.

And despite the slowdown during Golden Week celebrations – and the mad queues to recharge EVs – the domestic price continues to rally and availability is tightening globally as major producers begin contract discussions for 2022.

Things are looking rosy for big producers like Albemarle who’re entering contract negotiating season as prices sit 3-4x higher than last year.

@AlbemarleCorp, #Tesla‘s most important #lithium supplier, enters contract negotiating season in a very strong position with #hydroxide & #carbonate prices pushing $30K – nearly 3-4X higher than during #BatteryDay last year.$ALB $TSLA pic.twitter.com/V88RbABH17

— Howard Klein (@LithiumIonBull) October 17, 2021

Then there’s nickel – which surged past $20,000 a tonne this month after it reached a seven-year high of $20,426 last month.

The price is currently sitting around $20,210 and Trading Economics analysts attribute this price to production curbs caused by power shortages in Asia and Europe.

Earlier this month Kosovo’s major nickel producer Newco Ferronikeli shut down production due to soaring energy prices.

Added to this, inventories in LME warehouses declined to 149,412 tonnes – that’s the lowest since December 2019.

Trading Economics reckons the metal could reach US$20,519.49 a tonne by the end of this quarter and could reach US$21,942.17 within 12 months.

LME Nickel Price Graph

Demand for cobalt has also benefited from growth in the EV sector, but Fastmarkets says that second generation lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries have become increasingly popular in China with the market share climbing to 52% in the first eight months of 2021, up from 39% in 2020 and 33% in 2019.

Basically, this means slower demand growth for cobalt which is used in smaller amounts in LFPs.

But this could be a boon for the metal, reducing the chances of shortages with the supply chain still constrained out of Africa due to landlocked deposits like the giant Mutanda mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which isn’t set to restart until 2022-23.

Fastmarkets reckons the supply should be able to grow with demand.

And the price for cobalt is currently around US$56,071 per tonne, up from between US$50,093-$53,000 in the month to September.

#Cobalt continues to move higher. Below is a 10 yr #LME chart showing the price today is $56,071/tonne. The high was over $94,000/t. Cobalt mines with higher grades should outperform in this cycle. How many companies will produce cobalt in 2022? 😀#Africa #USA #EU #UK #China pic.twitter.com/FLB1thI0LR

— Critical Metals plc (@CriticalMetals_) October 18, 2021

Here’s how a basket of ASX stocks with exposure to lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, and vanadium are performing>>>

CODE	COMPANY	1 WEEK RETURN %	1 MONTH RETURN %	6 MONTH RETURN %	1 YEAR RETURN %	SHARE PRICE [INTRADAY MONDAY]	MARKET CAP
AZL	Arizona Lithium	94	138	132	692	0.095	$ 137,622,511.52
BUX	Buxton Resources	72	72	62	28	0.115	$ 9,387,824.81
TNG	TNG Limited	52	60	30	14	0.125	$ 131,197,189.20
QXR	Qx Resources Limited	50	125	50	59	0.027	$ 19,990,869.63
LKE	Lake Resources	49	43	181	1375	0.87	$ 1,062,055,777.22
PNN	PepinNini Minerals	42	24	100	177	0.54	$ 21,431,426.68
INF	Infinity Lithium	40	75	11	119	0.21	$ 72,254,428.58
PVW	PVW Res	40	115	200	180	0.42	$ 30,479,625.00
AGY	Argosy Minerals	33	84	210	448	0.285	$ 312,567,926.00
CAE	Cannindah Resources	32	133	302	1014	0.245	$ 121,937,265.54
EUR	European Lithium	29	29	90	186	0.12	$ 111,424,488.42
LOT	Lotus Resources	28	26	171	301	0.3525	$ 318,108,500.16
PAM	Pan Asia Metals	26	22	311	259	0.575	$ 42,722,013.52
BSX	Blackstone	24	48	90	78	0.675	$ 218,516,601.60
VUL	Vulcan Energy	21	3	96	1107	13.94	$ 1,658,145,468.07
BOA	Boadicea Resources	20	17	-23	0	0.21	$ 15,539,979.00
ARR	American Rare Earths	20	24	121	75	0.21	$ 67,237,623.57
GLN	Galan Lithium	19	29	57	819	1.24	$ 325,297,652.63
RLC	Reedy Lagoon Corp.	19	7	35	138	0.031	$ 14,040,680.32
IXR	Ionic Rare Earths	16	26	-9	207	0.043	$ 132,303,581.05
AAJ	Aruma Resources	16	9	33	-15	0.096	$ 10,706,727.76
NTU	Northern Min	15	23	29	47	0.053	$ 242,375,398.30
SRL	Sunrise	13	21	-6	-26	2.04	$ 177,414,021.63
MNS	Magnis Energy Tech	13	24	10	108	0.385	$ 357,832,300.21
LPI	Lithium Pwr Int	13	56	59	121	0.43	$ 153,458,733.12
COB	Cobalt Blue	12	36	13	295	0.435	$ 122,383,707.27
LEL	Lithenergy	11	23			0.69	$ 30,150,000.00
LIT	Lithium Australia NL	10	6	6	160	0.1325	$ 124,888,951.75
ARN	Aldoro Resources	10	2	26	344	0.44	$ 37,133,707.38
INR	Ioneer	9	11	99	256	0.695	$ 1,313,895,861.69
JRV	Jervois Global	8	17	42	112	0.6075	$ 901,491,557.89
AUZ	Australian Mines	8	13	18	77	0.026	$ 107,588,977.85
BRB	Breaker Res NL	8	25	38	57	0.33	$ 105,898,301.93
NIC	Nickel Mines Limited	8	9	-15	9	1.065	$ 2,653,355,648.81
LTR	Liontown Resources	8	30	355	595	1.695	$ 3,210,779,681.76
IGO	IGO Limited	8	7	41	125	9.78	$ 7,231,907,614.15
CLA	Celsius Resource	7	12	-28	-17	0.029	$ 30,369,614.35
TKL	Traka Resources	7	15	-12	-35	0.015	$ 9,331,618.41
GME	GME Resources	7	7	19	53	0.075	$ 43,955,316.39
ARL	Ardea Resources	7	14	0	7	0.525	$ 73,158,136.07
MRD	Mount Ridley Mines	7	50	7	150	0.0075	$ 39,246,503.66
JRL	Jindalee Resources	7	0	-16	298	2.59	$ 128,226,399.42
TLG	Talga Group	7	8	14	61	1.555	$ 460,909,457.12
GL1	Globallith	6	4			0.415	$ 37,369,876.32
RNU	Renascor Res	6	-5	47	1225	0.1325	$ 245,247,740.92
ASN	Anson Resources	6	0	20	143	0.09	$ 88,448,243.17
QEM	QEM Limited	6	24	-23	64	0.18	$ 20,416,199.94
ORE	Orocobre Limited	6	3	48	238	9.16	$ 5,833,359,111.90
AOU	Auroch Minerals	6	9	-5	19	0.185	$ 53,901,539.10
HAS	Hastings Tech Met	6	21	54	119	0.285	$ 469,383,100.56
CXO	Core Lithium	6	42	125	1050	0.575	$ 969,599,098.13
GW1	Greenwing Resources	5	-3	-16	97	0.295	$ 32,355,260.85
ADD	Adavale Resource	5	-9	7	88	0.06	$ 19,231,521.12
SYA	Sayona Mining	5	-12	288	1576	0.1625	$ 1,098,609,343.52
DEV	Devex Resources	5	6	14	32	0.33	$ 98,506,869.44
LEG	Legend Mining	4	12	-39	-44	0.073	$ 206,635,179.08
G88	Golden Mile Res	4	6	-46	-21	0.05	$ 8,892,953.06
BEM	Blackearth Minerals	4	-11	-11	136	0.125	$ 26,087,432.04
ILU	Iluka Resources	3	4	30	84	9.59	$ 3,990,798,085.06
ESR	Estrella Res	3	-8	-29	-75	0.036	$ 41,833,574.64
ATM	Aneka Tambang	3	10	10	10	1.1	$ 1,434,013.90
CTM	Centaurus Metals	3	13	59	76	1.11	$ 384,976,538.24
LYC	Lynas Rare Earths	3	3	34	145	7.13	$ 6,172,495,029.36
VML	Vital Metals Limited	3	-1	-1	105	0.0595	$ 245,763,501.96
REE	Rarex Limited	3	5	-2	-24	0.1025	$ 44,256,133.99
HXG	Hexagon Energy	2	21	-25	69	0.086	$ 37,465,161.47
PAN	Panoramic Resources	2	12	52	114	0.235	$ 481,964,790.94
LPD	Lepidico	2	6	20	231	0.0265	$ 159,956,743.67
AML	Aeon Metals .	2	0	-35	-55	0.056	$ 47,410,992.26
RFR	Rafaella Resources	1	-12	-28	-37	0.079	$ 14,877,908.60
S2R	S2 Resources	1	2	-43	-67	0.089	$ 31,717,362.10
OZL	OZ Minerals	1	13	4	58	25.29	$ 8,324,691,576.35
CHN	Chalice Mining	1	-2	4	135	6.9	$ 2,424,685,296.60
PLS	Pilbara Min	0	-3	87	454	2.09	$ 6,205,808,124.56
MLS	Metals Australia	0	0	-33	0	0.002	$ 10,477,114.72
SLZ	Sultan Resources	0	6	-5	-33	0.18	$ 12,516,190.02
TON	Triton Min	0	-3	-26	-36	0.032	$ 36,302,978.14
WKT	Walkabout Resources	0	0	-43	11	0.195	$ 82,954,311.77
MRC	Mineral Commodities	0	3	-36	-55	0.15	$ 77,573,641.93
AJM	Altura Mining	0	0	0	0	0.07	$ 238,056,602.28
LML	Lincoln Minerals	0	0	0	0	0.008	$ 4,599,869.49
AQD	Ausquest Limited	0	-6	-15	-39	0.017	$ 13,994,227.13
MMC	Mitremining	0				0.225	$ 5,958,722.00
ALY	Alchemy Resource	0	-5	-17	-42	0.013	$ 10,923,956.10
TMT	Technology Metals	0	-8	6	9	0.37	$ 71,816,002.34
SYR	Syrah Resources	0	-3	1	135	1.115	$ 558,582,889.76
CWX	Carawine Resources	0	5	-22	-41	0.2	$ 23,411,328.93
VRC	Volt Resources	0	0	55	182	0.031	$ 84,728,868.96
BKT	Black Rock Mining	0	17	50	289	0.21	$ 183,003,319.24
FGR	First Graphene	0	17	-25	31	0.21	$ 121,026,616.92
HNR	Hannans	0	19	391	391	0.034	$ 77,879,247.34
NWC	New World Resources	0	11	-21	61	0.079	$ 126,920,495.68
AZS	Azure Minerals	0	4	13	-14	0.36	$ 113,053,538.17
VIA	Viagold Rare Earth	0	852	2339	10426	2	$ 166,624,808.00
MIN	Mineral Resources.	0	-7	-4	72	43.21	$ 7,436,921,309.18
STK	Strickland Metals	-1	81	335	-22	0.087	$ 96,212,112.39
PEK	Peak Resources	-1	-6	-12	129	0.08	$ 155,053,661.96
VR8	Vanadium Resources	-1	22	55	204	0.079	$ 37,013,989.92
EGR	Ecograf Limited	-2	-12	6	274	0.635	$ 285,707,746.47
PRL	Province Resources	-2	9	-23	1089	0.1575	$ 175,097,270.71
SRI	Sipa Resources	-2	-15	-18	-33	0.056	$ 11,229,754.09
MCR	Mincor Resources NL	-2	7	42	38	1.375	$ 653,823,670.50
POS	Poseidon Nick	-2	3	68	18	0.1025	$ 321,715,750.23
BHP	BHP Group	-2	-2	-20	4	37.93	$ 111,076,964,984.10
RBX	Resource Base	-3	-7	459	459	0.19	$ 7,590,041.15
RXL	Rox Resources	-3	0	-32	-56	0.38	$ 60,678,931.39
PGM	Platina Resources	-3	13	31	42	0.071	$ 32,144,293.31
PUR	Pursuit Minerals	-3	-29	-55	150	0.035	$ 31,858,473.14
PSC	Prospect Res	-3	6	178	271	0.445	$ 168,750,355.40
ARU	Arafura Resource	-3	45	21	107	0.2175	$ 333,238,676.38
HYM	Hyperion Metals	-3	-14	3	205	0.99	$ 139,112,491.00
GED	Golden Deeps	-4	14	-4	-22	0.0125	$ 9,310,217.28
GAL	Galileo Mining	-4	-11	-14	4	0.24	$ 42,025,301.25
AVL	Aust Vanadium	-4	9	4	100	0.024	$ 78,739,811.54
SGQ	St George Min	-4	3	-21	-47	0.071	$ 42,421,747.46
BMM	Balkanminingandmin	-4	-4			0.68	$ 23,075,000.00
FFX	Firefinch	-4	-6	78	199	0.5975	$ 601,926,599.30
MOH	Moho Resources	-5	-3	-25	-50	0.058	$ 6,506,350.33
PLL	Piedmont Lithium	-5	17	-4	104	0.805	$ 438,791,187.00
AXE	Archer Materials	-6	-28	76	199	1.51	$ 368,447,115.96
ESS	Essential Metals	-6	-8	106	110	0.1975	$ 43,959,695.19
FRS	Forrestania Resources	-6				0.38	$ 10,378,500.00
IPT	Impact Minerals	-7	-18	-22	-36	0.014	$ 30,356,923.79
NKL	Nickelx	-7	-37			0.135	$ 7,490,000.00
NMT	Neometals	-7	0	84	373	0.875	$ 474,345,582.54
EMH	European Metals Hldg	-7	-8	-4	198	1.34	$ 171,721,393.80
MLX	Metals X	-8	8	69	354	0.3725	$ 335,688,444.79
VMC	Venus Metals	-8	6	-9	-36	0.17	$ 25,683,376.11
ADV	Ardiden	-8	-15	-31	-73	0.011	$ 23,686,688.92
NVA	Nova Minerals	-9	7	3	-18	0.155	$ 277,455,821.34
CHR	Charger Metals	-9	-25			0.41	$ 13,132,724.35
SBR	Sabre Resources	-9	0	-17	-44	0.005	$ 8,446,568.25
CNJ	Conico	-10	-34	31	90	0.038	$ 38,008,165.21
QPM	Queensland Pacific	-10	-2	147	503	0.235	$ 325,347,151.44
CZN	Corazon	-10	0	0	-54	0.037	$ 10,152,702.68
MAN	Mandrake Resources	-10	14	-61	7	0.064	$ 31,511,737.62
RMX	Red Mountain Mining	-10	-10	-18	-40	0.009	$ 13,180,124.72
GBR	Great Boulder Resources	-10	20	400	144	0.18	$ 69,660,982.76
A8G	Australasian Gold	-10	66			0.58	$ 27,027,640.86
BAR	Barra Resources	-11	0	32	-26	0.025	$ 20,569,575.34
AVZ	AVZ Minerals	-11	16	73	268	0.32	$ 1,045,906,121.00
AR3	Australian Rare Earths	-13	-19			0.8	$ 36,274,494.87

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

A massive 111 of the 130 ASX battery metals stocks on our list posted gains last week.

Over the past year 64 stocks have posted a gain of 100% or more.

And five of them –Sayona (ASX:SYA), Renascor Resources (ASX:RNU), Core Lithium (ASX:CXO), Province Resources (ASX:PRL) and Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) – have posted a gain of 1000% or higher, and there are several more knocking at the door.

There is another player who’s jumped more than 1000% this year. In fact, ViaGold (ASX:VIA) has gained a ridiculous 3,470% since last August.

But shares in the rare earths company are currently suspended pending the ASX’s further enquiries into a memorandum of understanding that was referred to in the company’s mid-week trading halt.

The halt came after shares in the company soared early in the week with Stockhead’s Hot Money column noting on Monday that there was unusual price action in its shares despite little news flow.

Sayona nabs 60% stake in Moblan project

Yesterday Sayona finalised the US$86.5 million acquisition of a 60% stake in the Moblan lithium project in Northern Québec following a A$100 million cap raising.

The company says the cap raising demonstrates strong investor confidence in its Québec expansion, adding to the Abitibi lithium hub amid accelerating lithium demand from North America’s EV industry.

The project is 40% owned by SOQUEM Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Investissement Québec, which waived its right of first refusal in connection with Sayona’s acquisition of the Moblan interest.

The company is planning additional drilling at Moblan next year aiming to expand its lithium resource and will undertake a revised definitive feasibility study targeting an increase in its spodumene production capacity.

Last month Sayona announced the potential for a significant resource expansion at its newly acquired North American Lithium (NAL) mine and drilling at its Authier Lithium Project also has the potential to increase its lithium resource – together with planned drilling at the emerging Tansim Lithium Project.

Vulcan signs deal with Umicore

Yesterday the company announced it had signed a binding lithium hydroxide offtake agreement with cathod materials producer Umicore as part of its Zero Carbon Lithium Project in Germany.

The agreement is for an initial five-year term ahead of commercial delivery set for 2025.

Umicore will purchase a minimum of 28,000 tonnes and a maximum of 42,000 tonnes of battery grade lithium hydroxide – with pricing to be based on market prices on a take-or-pay basis.

Umicore’s cathode materials plant in Poland is expected to start production at the end of this year, with the materials to be sold to electric vehicle battery producers.

Vulcan now has a diversified mix of offtakers from the cathode, battery, and automotive sectors following agreements signed with LG Energy Solutions on July 19 and top automotive player Renault Group on August 2.