In contrast to the volatility of 2023, Q1 2024 saw a more stable lithium market. Prices for lithium carbonate started the period at US$13,377.44 per tonne and finished at US$14,874.31, marking an 11 percent increase.
Strong electric vehicle sales in January helped support prices for the important battery metal, which continued to rise through February and March, reaching a quarterly high of US$16,109. This rally was fueled by reports from China indicating a sustained growth trend in lithium demand for batteries and energy storage technology.
Year-to-date gain: 46.07 percent; market cap: AU$40.31 million; current share price: AU$0.13
Africa-focused exploration company Prospect Resources holds a diversified portfolio of assets located in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia. Its lithium properties — Omarur and Step Aside — are in Namibia and Zimbabwe, respectively.
Year-to-date gain: 33.33 percent; market cap: AU$432.96 million; current share price: AU$0.20
Emerging producer Ioneer owns the Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project in Nevada, US. According to the company, the project is considered the “sole lithium-boron deposit in North America.”
Year-to-date gain: 28 percent; market cap: AU$26.85 million; current share price: AU$0.16
ASX-listed Pan Asia Metals is a mineral exploration company with a diverse portfolio of projects in Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand. Specialising in critical metals such as lithium, tantalum and rare earth elements, the company is also actively engaged in exploration activities in South America.
“The Tama Atacama lithium project has the potential to be one of the largest lithium brine projects in the global peer group. Surface assays for lithium are extremely high and the project has enviable strategic positioning, with all infrastructure requirements satisfied,” said Pan Asia Metals Managing Director Paul Lock.
Shares subsequently shed some of the positivity, spending the rest of the quarter rangebound below AU$0.17.
Year-to-date gain: 2.45 percent; market cap: AU$13.81 billion; current share price: AU$71.61
Diversified miner Mineral Resources holds a portfolio of assets in Australia, including lithium and iron ore projects.
Following a share price slump early in the year’s first quarter, the company began to rebound in mid-January. On February 21, shares rose to AU$67.69 following the release of Mineral Resources’ latest financial results.
Shares marked a Q1 high of AU$70.98 at the end of March, when Mineral Resources announced plans to develop a lithium-processing hub in Western Australia’s Goldfields region. It aims to capitalise on lithium-ion battery demand.
Plans for the hub include the construction of a lithium hydroxide and carbonate plant, as well as associated infrastructure to support the production of battery-grade lithium chemicals.
Lithium is the lightest metal on the periodic table, and it is used in a wide variety of applications, including lithium-ion batteries, pharmaceuticals and industrial applications like glass and steel.
A lithium-ion battery has one or more cells, depending on the amount of energy storage it is capable of, and each cell has a positive electrode and negative electrode with an electrolyte separating them. When the battery is in use, lithium ions flow from the negative electrode to the positive electrode, running out of power once all have transferred. When the battery is charging, ions flow the opposite way.
Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, currently hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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