Top 5 Canadian Lithium Stocks (Updated July 2022)

1. Nevada Sunrise Gold (TSXV:NEV)

Year-to-date gain: 191.67 percent; market capitalization: C$13.89 million; current share price: C$0.175

Nevada Sunrise Gold may have gold in its name, but 2022 has been all about lithium. The explorer wholly owns two lithium projects, the Gemini and Jackson Wash assets, which are located in the Lida Valley basin in Nevada. According to Nevada Sunrise, the valley shares similar geography to the nearby Clayton Valley basin, where Albemarle’s (NYSE:ALB) Silver Peak lithium mine is located. In addition to its lithium properties, the company owns 100 percent of the Coronado VMS project, 20 percent of the Kinsley Mountain gold project and 15 percent of both the Treasure Box copper project and the Lovelock Mine cobalt project.

In the first quarter, Nevada Sunrise Gold’s share price saw little movement, even as it commenced exploration at Gemini. It wasn’t until the company shared its first drill results on April 18 that its share price broke above C$0.10, jumping from C$0.08 to C$0.14 overnight. Further exploration results at the project, including 1,101 parts per million lithium over 730 feet, continued to drive its share price higher.

After rising through May and early June, the company’s share price hit a year-to-date high of C$0.36 on June 10 off the back of June 6 exploration results showing 327.7 milligrams of lithium per liter of water over 220 feet, as well as private placement news. Its most recent news came on July 11, when the company shared preliminary results from a May time-domain electromagnetic survey.

2. Jourdan Resources (TSXV:JOR)

Year-to-date gain: 112.5 percent; market capitalization: C$15.13 million; current share price: C$0.085

Jourdan Resources is focused on acquiring, exploring and developing hard-rock spodumene lithium projects in Quebec, Canada. Its current projects are the Vallée lithium, Baillarge lithium-molybdenum and Preissac-La Corne lithium. According to the company, it has the largest lithium exploration portfolio in Quebec.

Jourdan Resources’ share price saw a spike to start the year ⁠— hitting a year-to-date high of C$0.10 ⁠— but then performed relatively flatly for much of the first half of the year, staying mostly around C$0.05 to C$0.06. The company’s share price began to rise again in June, during which time it shared exploration results at Vallée, including a highlight of 3.2 meters at 1.56 percent Li2O. Its share price hit C$0.09 in June and again in July, and its most recent news came on July 7, when it shared its most recent exploration results at Vallée.

3. Lithium Energi Exploration (TSXV:LEXI)

Year-to-date gain: 45.45 percent; market capitalization: C$17.16 million; current share price: C$0.24

Lithium Energi Exploration is an acquisition, exploration and development company working in South America’s Lithium Triangle, with over 72,000 hectares of lithium brine concessions in Argentina’s section of the triangle.

In January, the company announced that exploration and development with its joint venture partner Global Oil Management Group was accelerating. The name of the new joint venture is Triangle Lithium Argentina.

On March 24, the company shared that, alongside its new joint venture Triangle Lithium Argentina, it was set to commence exploration drilling in the Antofalla basin soon. This news caused its share price to shoot up over the following weeks, moving from C$0.21 on March 24 to a year-to-date high of C$0.35 by April 11. On June 21, the company announced that drilling had commenced, and would encompass 2,400 meters over six wells at the basin. Although its share price has fallen since its April highs, it’s still up significantly year-to-date.

4. Sigma Lithium (TSX:SGML)

Year-to-date gain: 45.38 percent; market capitalization: C$2.02 billion; current share price: C$18.90

In Minas Gerais, Brazil, Sigma Lithium has its Grota do Cirilo hard-rock lithium project, which has been in production at a pilot scale since 2018. Sigma expects Phase I production of 220,000 metric tons (MT) annually. According to the company, its goal is to become “one of the world’s largest, lowest-cost producers of high-purity, environmentally sustainable lithium products.” Sigma is constructing its greentech dense media separation production plant, which will make its operations vertically integrated.

The company was recently recognized by the Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) as part of its “Top 50 Stocks for 10 Scarcity Themes.” In late March, the company announced environmental, social and governance steps it would be taking, including donating 7,000 food baskets to the region it operates in. In mid-April, the company updated its feasibility study with a potential production capacity increase to 450,000 MT per year. Its share price spent much of April and early May elevated, including a fresh year-to-date high on May 4 of C$22.21, before falling back down.

On May 26, Sigma filed a consolidated technical report that looks at two initial production phases for Grota do Cirilo. The integrated operation would source feedstock spodumene ore from the company's Phase 1 and Phase 2 lithium deposits to produce battery-grade, high-purity lithium concentrate. The company pegs the after-tax net production revenue at US$5.1 billion and the after-tax internal rate of return at 589 percent, and states that this expansion scenario "will potentially position (it) as the world’s fourth largest lithium producer."

Most recently, Sigma shared that it has increased the resource at Grota do Cirilo by 50 percent.

5. Critical Elements Lithium (TSXV:CRE)

Year-to-date gain: 2.22 percent; market capitalization: C$280.62 million; current share price: C$1.38

Critical Elements Lithium is another Quebec-focused lithium company, and it is focused on its Rose lithium-tantalum hard-rock spodumene project. The company also has its Lemare lithium project and a handful of exploration projects that are focused on other metals.

Critical Elements spiked significantly at the end of March, moving from C$1.28 on March 29 to C$1.67 on April 4. It remained elevated over the next few weeks, including a year-to-date high of C$1.69 on April 13. On April 6, the company shared its “aggressive” exploration plans for 2022, which mostly center on Rose. The plans include 10,000 meters of drilling at the flagship project, as well as 7,000 meters at Lemare in order to create a mineral resource estimate. Rose is close to being fully permitted and to the start of construction, and recently the company converted spodumene from the project into battery-grade lithium hydroxide with a conversion rate of 92 percent.

Most recently, Critical Elements announced a positive feasibility study for Rose, including a mine life of 17 years and average annual production of 173,000 MT of chemical-grade 5.5 percent spodumene concentrate.