Top 5 ASX Lithium Stocks (Updated March 2022)

1. Metals Australia

Year-to-date gain: 120 percent; current share price: AU$0.088

Metals Australia (ASX:MLS) is operating out of Canada and Australia. The majority of its lithium projects — Lac la Motte, Lac la Corne and Lacourciere-Darveau — are in Quebec, as are the company’s graphite and gold projects. Its Manindi lithium project is located in Western Australia, along with the company’s base metals projects.

The company began a reverse-circulation drill program at Manindi in February that is testing pegmatites bearing lithium, caesium and tantalum. The program is expected to be completed within two to three weeks.

2. Core Lithium

Year-to-date gain: 61.02 percent; current share price: AU$0.95

According to Core Lithium (ASX:CXO), its Finniss lithium project in the Northern Territory is “one of Australia’s most capital-efficient and lowest-cost spodumene lithium projects.” First production is expected in Q4 2022, and the company already has multiple four year offtake agreements in place with Ganfeng Lithium (SZSE:002460) and Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group (SZSE:002497).

Core’s latest news came on March 1, when it announced a four year offtake agreement with Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) for up to 110,000 tonnes of lithium oxide spodumene concentrate from Finniss.

3. Global Lithium

Year-to-date gain: 56.84 percent; current share price: AU$1.49

Exploration company Global Lithium (ASX:GL1) is focused on its 100 percent owned Marble Bar lithium project, which is located in Western Australia’s North Pilbara Craton. The project’s Archer deposit has been the primary exploration target; the company is planning a 60,000 meter reverse-circulation drill program for Q1 2022. Global Lithium acquired an 80 percent interest in the Manna lithium project from Breaker Resources (ASX:BRB) in December 2021. The two companies plan to work together on exploration at the project in 2022.

On March 3, Global Lithium announced the signing of a 10 year offtake agreement for spodumene concentrate with Suzhou TA&A Ultra Clean Technology (SZSE:300309), which is its largest shareholder. Suzhou TA&A intends to help with construction funding as well.

4. Arizona Lithium

Year-to-date gain: 38.1 percent; current share price: AU$0.145

Arizona Lithium (ASX:AZL) is focused on two US projects: its Big Sandy lithium project in Arizona and its Lordsburg lithium project in New Mexico. Big Sandy is its primary project, and exploration has resulted in a total indicated and inferred resource of 32.5 million tonnes grading 1,850 parts per million lithium for 320,800 tonnes Li2Co3.

Arizona Lithium’s price hit a year-to-date high of AU$0.19 on January 20, one day after it released metallurgical testwork results from Big Sandy. According to a press release, “bench-scale work on ore beneficiation has produced a concentrate containing 71 percent of the lithium in 36 percent of the whole ore mass.” The results have “significantly” lowered the tonnage of ore needing to be moved offsite.

5. Lithium Power International (ASX:LPI)

Year-to-date gain: 33.7 percent; current share price: AU$0.615

Lithium Power International (LPI) is a pure-play lithium company developing the Maricunga joint venture project in Northern Chile’s portion of the Lithium Triangle. The firm describes the project, which it has a 51 percent interest in, as “Chile’s next high-grade lithium mine.” It has the second highest-grade lithium brine resource at 1,167 milligrams per liter, as well as 8,500 milligrams per liter potassium. In addition to Maricunga, the company owns three exploration-stage lithium projects in Western Australia.

LPI’s share price spiked in mid-January from its initial level of AU$0.49 on January 4 to AU$0.83 by January 18. This followed its announcement that it plans to spin its Western Australia hard-rock lithium assets out into a wholly owned subsidiary dubbed "DemergeCo"; the new company will attempt to list on the ASX.

“These assets deserve their own time, attention and resources, and LPI’s Board believes that it is the best outcome for LPI shareholders to create a dedicated, WA-focused company ... to advance these exciting assets,” LPI CEO Cristobal Garcia-Huidobro said in a press release.