Top 9 Lithium Stocks (Updated November 2022)

Year-to-date gain: 233.55 percent; market capitalization: US$3.56 billion; current share price: US$35.39

In Minas Gerais, Brazil, Sigma Lithium has its Grota do Cirilo hard-rock lithium project, where it is currently constructing Phase 1 operations with expected commissioning by year-end 2022. Sigma anticipates Phase 1 production of 270,000 metric tons (MT) annually and Phase 2 production of 531,000 MT. Additionally, Sigma is building its greentech dense media separation production plant, which will make its operations vertically integrated. On February 24, the company was recognized by the Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) as part of its “Top 50 Stocks for 10 Scarcity Themes.”

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. After-tax net production revenue is pegged at US$5.1 billion, while the after-tax internal rate of return is 589 percent; this expansion scenario "will potentially position (Sigma) as the world’s fourth largest lithium producer."

Most recently, Sigma shared an update on its “transformative” Q2, mentioning the previously announced news that it has increased the resource at Grota do Cirilo by 50 percent; a Phase 3 technical report has now been filed. Additionally, as of the announcement, total construction progress at the project stood at 32 percent. The company's most recent news came on September 15, when it appointed Dana Perlman as an independent director. Its share price has continued to grow throughout the year, reaching a year-to-date high of US$37.46 on October 27 after starting the year at US$10.57.

Year-to-date gain: 83.23 percent; market capitalization: US$24.96 billion; current share price: US$93.76

SQM is one of the world’s largest lithium companies. It produces lithium out of Chile’s Salar de Atacama and brings it to the market in the form of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. SQM is developing the hard-rock Mount Holland lithium project in Australia through a joint venture with Wesfarmers (ASX:WES,OTC Pink:WFAFF). The company places a heavy emphasis on the sustainability of its operations, with a production process that involves 97.4 percent solar energy.

On March 2, SQM released its 2021 earnings report, including net income of US$585.5 million compared to US$164.5 million for 2020. SQM's share price spiked in May to hit US$90.21 on May 18, the same day the company announced both its Q1 earnings report and the approval of an interim dividend payment for investors. Its share price continued to rise through late May, reaching a year-to-date high of US$113.33. On August 17, SQM shared its Q2 and H1 earnings for this year. In H1, the company saw US$1.655 billion in net income, which was an increase of 940 percent over its US$157.8 million net income in H1 2021.

In September, SQM celebrated 25 years of lithium production in Chile, and reflected on its path to that point; it also shared its vision for the Salar Futuro project, which is focused on increasing the sustainability of extraction from the Salar de Atacama. Options being looked include advanced evaporation technologies and direct lithium extraction.

Year-to-date gain: 25.87 percent; market capitalization: US$5.62 billion; current share price: US$31.33

Livent is a global lithium producer with manufacturing facilities in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. It creates lithium products that serve diverse markets, such as energy storage and battery systems, polymers, aerospace and pharmaceuticals.

In the second quarter, two pieces of news — Livent’s doubling of its ownership in Nemaska Lithium, bringing it to 50 percent, and its Q1 results — spurred a share price jump from US$21.37 on May 2 to US$28.55 on May 4. The company's Q1 results show revenue increases of 17 percent quarter-on-quarter and 56 percent year-on-year.

Shares later climbed to an H1 high of US$34.49 on May 27 after news of a collaboration between Livent and Lilium (NASDAQ:LILM) on the development of the first all-electric vertical takeoff and landing jet. The two companies will be collaborating on research and development for "the advancement of lithium metal technology for use in high-performance battery cells."

Further significant news came in late July, when Livent signed an offtake agreement for battery-grade lithium hydroxide with General Motors (NYSE:GM); it will last six years and begin in 2025. As part of the deal, the two companies will work together to transition Livent’s lithium hydroxide processing for General Motors to North America. Most recently, Livent released its Q3 results, in which it discusses its expansion plans. According to the company, all are on track to be completed as planned, and higher capacity in Argentina alone will nearly double Livent's 2021 lithium carbonate equivalent production capacity by the end of 2023.

Year-to-date gain: 272 percent; market capitalization: C$4.9 billion; current share price: C$48.36

For information about Sigma Lithium and what has driven its share price, see its entry in the top US lithium companies section above.

Year-to-date gain: 271.43 percent; market capitalization: C$25.93 million; current share price: C$0.26

Nevada Sunrise Metals, which underwent a name change from Nevada Sunrise Gold in September, 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 Lida Valley basin 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 Q1, Nevada Sunrise Metals 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 an H1 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. In late July, Nevada Sunrise received an exploration permit for Gemini that increased the number of boreholes at the project to 12, six of which were planned for a Phase 2 drilling program at the project. The company’s share price spiked significantly, from C$0.22 on August 23 to C$0.38 on August 30, a new year-to-date high for the company, although it did not release news during that time period.

Phase 2 drilling commenced in mid-October and has two objectives: to test lithium-bearing brine and sediments at greater depths compared to previous exploration, and to test the width of a previously identified lithium-bearing zone.

Year-to-date gain: 94.12 percent; market capitalization: C$48.17 million; current share price: C$0.33

Brunswick Exploration is a Quebec-based explorer focused on lithium pegmatite projects. It has a portfolio of 10 exploration projects, with six in Atlantic Canada, three in Quebec and one in Ontario. This sizeable portfolio has largely been built in 2022, as the company has spent much of the year identifying and acquiring properties and land packages.

In June, Brunswick announced it was starting a grassroots lithium exploration program in Eastern Canada. The program is spread out over the company's many projects, to which prospecting teams have been sent to perform ground prospecting for “spodumene-bearing pegmatites, stream geochemistry and trenching of select targets.”

CEO Killian Charles stated in a press release, “This is the largest grassroots portfolio in our peer group and this initial program will rapidly sort through dozens of identified pegmatites to prepare for trenching and/or diamond drilling programs later this year.”

The most recent addition to Brunswick's portfolio is the Hearst project, its sole Ontario property. It is a combination of the company’s own prospecting and the optioning of an adjacent spodumene-bearing pegmatite. The company’s share price has climbed throughout the year, reaching a peak of C$0.42 on September 7.

Year-to-date gain: 279.31 percent; market capitalization: AU$229.64 million; current share price: AU$0.11

Latin Resources is an exploration company looking for metals that will help move the world towards net-zero emissions. The company is focused on lithium and copper projects in South America, and in Australia it has the Cloud Nine kaolin-halloysite project. Its lithium projects are the Salinas lithium pegmatite project in Brazil and the Catamarca lithium pegmatite project in Argentina.

In late March, Latin Resources discovered high lithium grades during exploration at Salinas, causing its share price to soar over the next two weeks. On March 23, the company released assays from the project with a peak grade of 3.22 percent lithium hydroxide; shares moved from AU$0.06 the day of the release to AU$0.22 by April 6. As Q2 progressed, Latin Resources gradually moved lower.

Early August saw more positive movement for Latin Resources, when drilling confirmed a new discovery west of Salinas’ Colina prospect. According to the company, “the drilling has discovered an intersection of a new swarm of spodumene bearing pegmatites including one of 18.75mi n thickness.” Results from metallurgical test work received in late August were described by the company as positive, with 78.72 percent of the lithium oxide recovered into a concentrate grading a "very high" 6.57 percent lithium oxide.

Latin Resources’ most recent exploration news at the Colina prospect came in early October, when the company announced a new discovery at the site after drill results showed multiple high-grade lithium-bearing pegmatites. It has also been exploring the Cloud Nine project, where analysis of samples shows rare earth element mineralization.