High Voltage: Tesla ditches nickel and cobalt, spotlight on Pilbara Minerals' third spodumene auction

China’s ongoing energy shortage starts to affect domestic battery materials production
Tesla ditches nickel, cobalt as prices soar
Pilbara Minerals’ (ASX:PLS) third spodumene auction unofficially scheduled for October 26
Weekly small cap standouts include Arizona Lithium (ASX:AZL) and QX Resources (ASX:QXR)

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

All eyes on Pilbara Minerals’ lithium auction

Unofficially scheduled for Tuesday October 26 is Pilbara Minerals’ (ASX:PLS) third auction on the Battery Material Exchange (BMX) digital platform for 10,000t (SC5.2%) spodumene.

The second auction went off at an incredible $US2,440/t, singlehandedly sparking a historic 86.5% month-on-month increase for average spod pricing industry-wide.

Susan Zou, non-ferrous editor at Fastmarkets, says bids for the upcoming coming auction “will not be as aggressive”.

“While the market consensus is that spodumene tightness will not ease significantly in the short term – despite Pilbara Minerals now producing spodumene from the restarted former Altura lithium project – the bids for the upcoming auction will not be as aggressive as last time because the ascent of lithium prices in China has slowed after the week-long national holiday compared with September, while the shipment time is months away,” Zou said.

Tesla ditches nickel, cobalt as prices soar

Tesla posted record revenue and profits in third quarter.

Improved gross margins of 30.5% on its automotive business are an industry benchmark, but Tesla reckons it can do better.

Amid rising material costs, Tesla will switch all its standard range vehicles to lithium iron phosphate based (LFP) batteries.

LFP-based lithium-ion batteries are cheaper and safer than chemistries that use nickel and cobalt, but less energy dense.

The future of #lithium is about balance. Watch others follow @Tesla and use more #LFP https://t.co/C095hn3vyY

— Joe Lowry (@globallithium) October 21, 2021

The switch comes as lithium-ion battery chemical prices are on the rise.

Argus says its minimum 22% nickel sulphate assessment rose by 31% in the last six months to $US4,450-4,650 per tonne today.

Meanwhile, prices for minimum 20.5% cobalt sulphate have increased by 23% over the same period to $US5.59-5.77/lb.

Energy-starved China throttles battery materials production

China’s ongoing energy shortage has begun to affect domestic battery materials production, with several companies forced to scale back anode and cathode production in late Q3, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

China is grappling with a shortage of coal – which fuels most of its electricity supply – due in part to its trade war with Australia.

This has seen metals prices spike as power restrictions on industry are imposed.

“During China’s National Energy Commission meeting in mid-October, Premier Keqiang Li emphasised that extreme electricity cuts need to be corrected to ensure that the northern regions have secure usage of electricity for the winter, signifying that electricity restrictions within China might be relaxed at some stage in Q4,” Benchmark says.

“In the long-term, China seeks to guarantee resource security by addressing the structural issues behind the current electricity supply shortage.

“The government is pushing for an upgrade in coal-powered electricity infrastructure, diversification of energy sources, and mass adoption of energy storage technologies.”

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

Weekly Small Cap Standouts

ARIZONA LITHIUM (ASX:AZL)

The recently rebranded lithium play is now up 94% over the past five days on no news.

AZL recently completed the spin-out of its gold and copper assets to Diablo Resources (ASX:DBO) to focus on its ‘Big Sandy’ lithium project in the US.

In response to a recent price query from the ASX, AZL also noted that lithium carbonate prices in China are trading at record highs in October.

The $163m market cap stock has gained an impressive ~850% year-to-date.

QX RESOURCES (ASX:QXR)

Gold focused QX has officially acquired a lithium project in the Pilbara, the hard rock capital of the world.

The explorer exercised an option to buy the ‘Turner River’ lithium project early, in advance of the due diligence period lapsing.

This reflects QXR’s confidence in the project’s prospectivity, QXR says.

It will also acquire the adjoining tenements for an extra $6000, which brings the total tenement position at Turner River from 45sqkm to 84sqkm.

“Following the recent site visit and after further reviews of the project’s geology and the surrounding prospects, we have taken the decision to not only exercise the Turner River option early but to expand our tenement holdings in the area by applying for some adjoining ground which looks equally as prospective,” QXR chairman Maurice Feilich says.

That recent site visit identified contained “numerous pegmatite dykes”. Encouraging start.

“Further site visits are planned, and we look forward to keeping shareholders updated on progress here and with respect to the ongoing work in Queensland,” Feilich says.