Years of sagging lithium prices punished Aussie stocks and sent miners like Alita Resources and Altura Mining to the canvas permanently.
The worst could now be over. Lithium prices are seeing their first sustained rise in three years as automakers and cell manufacturers react to the strong upward trend in EV sales.
The Benchmark Lithium Price Index – while still very low — was up 3.6 per cent in December.
Prices for spodumene (the feedstock Australian miners sell) improved by 2.6 per cent to an average of $US390/t.
This recent stability in lithium prices has already created a better investment environment in the lithium ion battery supply chain, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence says.
“In December … Australian gold and nickel producer, IGO (ASX:IGO) entered into a $1.4bn binding agreement to acquire minority stakes from Tianqi, in the Greenbushes mine and its Kwinana hydroxide facility,” it says.
“Moreover, Chinese chemical processors, Yibin Tianyi Lithium, Youngy Lithium, and Ganfeng Lithium invested in future production capacity, and several cell manufacturers including LG Energy Solutions (LGES), CATL, and Tesla, looked to secure future chemical supply via long term agreements and plan further megafactory construction.”
This creates a bit of a feedback loop: more investment = more lithium demand = better pricing = more investment.
Or something like that.
Investor sentiment is higher than it’s been for years and Aussie lithium stocks have been flying. Just check out this sea of green:
| CODE | COMPANY | PRICE | 1 MONTH RETURN % | 6 MONTH RETURN % | 1 YEAR RETURN % | MARKET CAP ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VUL | Vulcan Energy | 7.2 | 78 | 1130 | 3170 | $827.5M |
| RLC | Reedy Lagoon | 0.032 | 88 | 256 | 967 | $13.6M |
| LKE | Lake Resources | 0.325 | 317 | 803 | 733 | $352.7M |
| CXO | Core Lithium | 0.27 | 19 | 482 | 664 | $275.7M |
| ADV | Ardiden | 0.021 | 0 | 40 | 600 | $47.1M |
| PLL | Piedmont Lithium | 0.375 | 56 | 658 | 513 | $1.1B |
| JRL | Jindalee Resources | 1.66 | 114 | 312 | 492 | $78.0M |
| EMH | European Metals | 1.35 | 4 | 335 | 400 | $177.0M |
| LTR | Liontown Resources | 0.425 | -7 | 240 | 325 | $741.3M |
| INF | Infinity Lithium | 0.23 | 21 | 149 | 301 | $68.8M |
| AVZ | AVZ Minerals | 0.21 | 5 | 218 | 239 | $563.5M |
| FFX | Firefinch | 0.255 | 11 | 55 | 227 | $195.5M |
| PLS | Pilbara Minerals | 0.95 | -13 | 152 | 215 | $2.8B |
| SYA | Sayona Mining | 0.04 | 186 | 300 | 192 | $157.1M |
| ASN | Anson Resources | 0.099 | 183 | 395 | 191 | $84.9M |
| TKL | Traka Resources | 0.019 | -17 | -32 | 174 | $10.1M |
| AGY | Argosy Minerals | 0.18 | 50 | 227 | 147 | $193.7M |
| LIT | Lithium Australia | 0.15 | 100 | 121 | 142 | $137.4M |
| INR | Ioneer | 0.425 | 35 | 270 | 136 | $741.8M |
| GXY | Galaxy Resources | 2.48 | -14 | 99 | 132 | $1.3B |
| GLN | Galan Lithium | 0.525 | 30 | 239 | 128 | $129.4M |
| MIN | Mineral Resources | 37.34 | -8 | 33 | 122 | $6.9B |
| LPD | Lepidico | 0.026 | 44 | 225 | 103 | $134.9M |
| ORE | Orocobre | 5.01 | 0 | 57 | 46 | $1.7B |
| PSC | Prospect Resources | 0.19 | 12 | 31 | 21 | $61.4M |
| ESS | Essential Metals | 0.13 | 41 | 24 | 8 | $26.1M |
| LPI | Lithium Power International | 0.31 | 15 | 59 | 7 | $89.9M |
| EUR | European Lithium | 0.071 | 31 | 45 | -13 | $68.5M |
| HWK | Hawkstone Mining | 0.045 | 309 | 181 | 800 | $72M |
| CXO | Core Lithium | 0.265 | 22 | 511 | 686 | $265.64M |