Rising, global demand for electric vehicles could send lithium prices to higher highs. In fact, according to The Economic Times, “A surge in demand for electric vehicles worldwide along with increasing pressure on the supply chain of materials that go into EV batteries has seen an unprecedented rise in prices of those same materials this year. In the first half of this year, prices of lithium have jumped over 7-fold while cobalt prices have more than doubled and nickel has almost doubled. What is worse, this is likely to be a recurring theme in times to come as mass adoption of EVs takes off putting pressure on the supply chain that cannot cope with the demand.” That’s bullish news for companies such as E3 Lithium (TSXV: ETL) (OTC: EEMMF), Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), Lithium Americas (NYSE: LAC) (TSX: LAC), American Lithium Corp. (TSXV: LI) (OTC: LIACF), and Piedmont Lithium (NASDAQ: PLL).
With EV sales only expected to rise, most lithium producers agree that far more supply is needed. Albemarle, for example, says that to keep up with demand, “existing producer supplying the market today must double every two to three years for the next decade,” as noted by Investing News. Unfortunately, no producer has been able to reliably do that, to date.
Look at E3 Lithium (TSXV: ETL) (OTC: EEMMF), for example.
E3 Lithium, Alberta’s leading lithium developer and Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology innovator, completed drilling its first well on July 7, 2022. E3 Lithium (E3) is now moving to completion and sampling operations on this well, including retrieving brine samples to verify lithium concentrations and production testing to confirm flow rates and deliverability from the Leduc Reservoir.
Via its first well, E3 achieved its planned total depth of 2,670 metres, allowing for full data collection including 36.9 metres of core sample. E3 will use the core to quantify reservoir parameters to help validate the geological model and support the upgrade of its resource from Inferred to Measured and Indicated, which is the basis of its Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS).
Reaching the planned total depth on E3’s first well and successfully retrieving core sample from the Leduc Reservoir is a significant achievement. The data that will be collected from this well will greatly assist in validating the accuracy of the mapping and interpretation of the reservoir and increasing confidence in the geological and reservoir modeling.
On June 28, 2022, E3 received a licence to drill its second brine production well for the purposes of evaluating lithium in the Clearwater Project area, southeast of the Town of Olds, Alberta. E3 expects to begin drilling operations next week and to complete the well by early August, at which point completion and sampling operations can begin. Additional brine samples will be tested via this second well to verify lithium concentrations.
“The progress we’ve made on our evaluation program is the result of significant effort from our geosciences team and the importance Alberta has placed on exploring and producing critical minerals,” said Chris Doornbos. “Drilling a second well will help increase geologic confidence in the Clearwater Project area and allow E3 to continue to advance its project towards pre-feasibility, supporting the energy transition in Alberta.”
All sampling and analysis of lithium concentrations will be conducted by independent third parties in accordance with NI 43-101 guidelines.
Other related developments from around the markets include:
Albemarle Corporation announced that it has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.395 per share. The dividend, which has an annualized rate of $1.58, is payable October 3, 2022, to shareholders of record at the close of business as of September 16, 2022.
Lithium Americas published its 2021 Environment, Social, Governance and Safety (ESG-S) Report. The Report themed Enabling Transition, reaffirms the Company’s commitment to responsible development and production, as well as highlights the Company’s ESG-S practices and overall progress made over the past two years (reporting period of January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021). “One of the greatest global transitions is underway – the shift to a clean energy economy – and lithium is essential to this transition,” commented Jonathan Evans, President and CEO of Lithium Americas. “Lithium Americas is uniquely positioned to enable a North American-based lithium supply chain. Over the last two years, every aspect of our business has been growing and transitioning to ready ourselves to be one of the safest, most environmentally responsible and inclusive lithium operators.”
American Lithium Corp. provided an update of initial diamond drill results from the program currently underway at the Tonopah Lithium Claims project located northwest of Tonopah, Nevada. This diamond drill program is focused on expanding the existing large-scale near surface TLC resource. An update on Reverse Circulation drill program results to date is expected to be released in the coming weeks. Simon Clarke, CEO of American Lithium states, “We are very pleased that these results continue to expand the drilled resource footprint with higher grades and consistently thicker mineralization than the existing TLC resource. Our main focus for the diamond drilling has been to expand and high grade our existing resource and these results successfully achieve both objectives. This will enable us to better position starter pits under our mining plan to initially focus on higher grade sections of the resource thereby maximizing Project returns. We are also looking forward to updating the mineral resource estimate for TLC in conjunction with finalizing our maiden PEA.”
Piedmont Lithium, a leading, diversified developer of lithium resources critical to the U.S. electric vehicle supply chain, was added as a member of the U.S. Russell 2000® Index and the Russell Microcap Index as part of the 2022 Russell indexes reconstitution. “We are extremely pleased to have been added as a member of the U.S. Russell 2000® Index,” said Keith Phillips, Piedmont Lithium CEO. “One of the objectives of our redomiciling in 2021 was to qualify for important stock indices that require U.S. domiciliation. Piedmont shares are now held by many index funds, including those managed by State Street, Vanguard, Blackrock, and others, and we hope that these long-term holders will support our shareholder value creation objectives in the longer-run.”
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