Top 4 ASX Lithium Stocks (Updated April 2024)

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.

Shares of Prospect were locked below AU$0.08 from January to mid-March, before rising to a Q1 high of AU$0.09 on March 25. The move occurred shortly after Prospect acquired a 60 percent residual interest in the Omarur property from Osino Resources (TSXV:OSI,OTCQX:OSIF) for US$75,000, taking Prospect’s stake to 100 percent.

Earlier in the quarter, Prospect announced the start of Phase 2 drilling at Omarur. The company said the program will consist of 70 rotary air blast and reverse-circulation drill holes across 4,250 metres.

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.”

As part of the permitting process for Rhoylite Ridge, Ioneer completed and submitted an administrative draft environmental impact statement to the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in mid-January.

After slipping to a first quarter low of AU$0.10 on January 25, shares of Ioneer spent February and March slowly climbing, reaching a quarterly high of AU$0.17 on March 25. News that the BLM has reached a final decision continued to add tailwinds at the beginning of the second quarter; the results of the review are expected in mid-April.

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.

Shares of Pan Asia Metals rose to a Q1 high of AU$0.21 during the first week of January. The spike came when the company entered into three binding option agreements to secure ownership of the Dolores North, Dolores South, Pozon and Pink project areas, which together comprise the Tama Atacama lithium brine project in Chile; it also agreed to acquire the Ramatidas project area. In total, these assets span about 120,000 hectares.

“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.

The half-year reporting period, which ended on December 31, 2023, saw the company's lithium operations perform well, benefiting from higher lithium prices and increased production volumes.

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.