Top 5 Canadian Lithium Stocks of 2023

Year-to-date gain: 136.65 percent; market cap: C$1.49 billion; current share price: C$15.69

Patriot Battery Metals is an exploration and development company that is working on advancing its Corvette lithium property, which comprises over 200 square kilometers in Quebec’s James Bay region. The company, which was known as Gaia Metals until 2021, began trading on the TSXV in July 2022 after relisting from the CSE.

Patriot has spent early 2023 exploring the Corvette project and building out its team. On January 5, the company announced its winter 2023 drill program, which is planned to cover at least 20,000 meters using five drill rigs; on January 9, the company added two ESG professionals to its management team. However, it was good news from its 2022 drilling that got the firm's share price moving. On January 18, Patriot shared assays that included the highest-grade lithium intercept so far at Corvette — 156.9 meters at 2.12 percent lithium oxide, including 25 meters at 5.04 percent and 5 meters at 6.36 percent.

The company’s share price continued heading upward through news of the appointment of Natacha Garout as CFO, a new omnibus equity incentive plan, the addition of Mélissa Desrochers to its board and more results from its 2022 drilling.

Patriot hit its current year-to-date high of C$17.17 on February 6, when it announced that holes from its 2023 drill campaign had extended the CV5 pegmatite by at least 400 meters. In late February, heavy liquid separation testing on core samples from the aforementioned pegmatite indicated that a dense media separation process can be used for the pegmatite body. The testing returned an average spodumene concentrate grade of 5.98 percent at 77 percent recovery.

Year-to-date gain: 114.89 percent; market cap: C$183.51 million; current share price: C$1.01

Brunswick Exploration is a Quebec-based explorer focused on lithium pegmatite projects. It has a large portfolio of exploration projects in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario. The company's sizable portfolio was largely built in 2022, as Brunswick spent much of the year identifying and acquiring properties and land packages.

Brunswick has had a busy start to 2023, adding multiple properties to its exploration portfolio. On January 17, the company announced it had staked two new projects in Saskatchewan — the Trans-Hudson project, comprising 36 claims, and the Lake Athabasca project with one claim; Brunswick also applied for three mineral exploration licenses in Manitoba near Lynn Lake. The following week, Brunswick shared that it had staked 198 claims to create the Mirage project in Quebec’s James Bay region.

On January 30, the company entered into an option agreement to take a 100 percent interest in Searchlight Resources' (TSXV:SCLT,OTCQB:SCLTF) Hanson Lake project in Saskatchewan. Prospecting and trenching at the project is planned in Q2.

February brought a year-to-date peak of C$1.04 on February 8, as well as news the following week of a bought deal private placement of C$6 million and a non-brokered private placement of C$2 million. On February 21, Brunswick was selected for inclusion on the 2023 TSX Venture 50 top performers list, placing seventh overall in the mining category.

Year-to-date gain: 91.67 percent; market cap: C$20.72 million; current share price: C$0.23

Quantum Minerals is a lithium, gold and copper company with three projects in Manitoba, Canada. QMC’s flagship project is its Irgon lithium mine project, which the company anticipates will be its first mine to reach production. It also has the Rocky Lake and Namew Lake gold-copper projects.

The company’s only news this year came on February 22, when it announced it had received a work permit for Irgon from Manitoba’s government. According to the release, QMC will first “carry out a field mapping and sampling program in order to extend the Irgon Dike beyond the known 800m strike length.” After that, it plans to commence a channel sampling program.

QMC’s share price skyrocketed on the news of its work permit, moving from C$0.14 the day before the release to C$0.24 the day following it, a year-to-date high for the company. It has remained elevated thus far, hitting that mark again on February 27 and March 1.

Year-to-date gain: 82.61 percent; market cap: C$13.54 million; current share price: C$0.21

Global Battery Metals is exploring and developing projects to support the battery revolution, with interests in three lithium projects and one copper project. In terms of its lithium properties, they span three countries and two continents. The company has the option to acquire up to 90 percent interest in Ireland’s NW Leinster lithium project and to acquire up to 100 percent in the La Poire lithium project in Newfoundland, Canada. The company also has a 100 percent interest in the Lithium King project in Utah, US.

On January 9, Global Battery Metals released an exploration update on its three lithium properties. The company shared that initial samples at La Poire had discovered pegmatite dykes but did not bear lithium; however, it plans to use the data in its phase 2 sampling program in the spring to “provide vectors to lithologies hosting Li mineralization in other licensed areas.” For its Lithium King project, the company said that it plans to commence its maiden drill program at the site in Q1 2023. Lastly, it planned to release assays for exploration at NW Leinster by the end of January.

Global Battery Metals released the exploration results well before then on January 18, and the news led to a share price jump from C$0.13 the day before to C$0.18. Forty-seven of the 66 surface samples read above 1 percent lithium oxide, 21 above 2 percent and two above 3 percent, at 3.63 percent and 3.75 percent. Its share price continued to trend higher after that, culminating in a year-to-date high of C$0.26 on February 9. It didn’t release any news in February.

Year-to-date gain: 60.87 percent; market cap: C$259.81 million; current share price: C$2.59

Lithium Ionic's flagship Itinga project is located in Brazil's Aracuai lithium province in the state of Minas Gerais. The company began trading on the TSXV in May after private company Lithium Ionic was acquired by POCML 6, a capital pool company.

Lithium Ionic has also been making acquisitions to start the year. On January 25, the company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary MGLIT Empreendimentos had entered into a binding share purchase agreement to acquire up to a 100 percent equity interest in Vale Litio; at this time it has acquired 2.78 percent. Vale Litio owns three lithium claims in Minas Gerais.

MGLIT’s other acquisition, announced on February 13, was of a 1,000 hectare mining claim in the same state. With this, the company says its land position has reached approximately 7,700 hectares all within the same region. The company’s share price has climbed throughout February, hitting a year-to-date high of C$2.88 on February 23.