Top 5 US Lithium Stocks (Updated March 2023)

Year-to-date gain: 163.5 percent; market cap: US$99.41 million; current share price: US$17.18

Atlas Lithium is exploring for strategic minerals in Brazil. In addition to its lithium hard-rock projects — Minas Gerais and Northeastern Brazil — it is also looking for nickel, rare earths, titanium and graphite at its other properties. The company is focused on advancing and developing its Minas Gerais project, including a lithium concentrate plant.

Atlas started the year by uplisting to the Nasdaq, commencing trading on the senior exchange on January 12. A week later, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Mitsui (OTC Pink:MITSY,TSE:8031); the agreement opens the door to a deal between the two companies in which Mitsui would provide US$65 million in funding in tranches that would primarily be used by Atlas to advance its planned lithium concentrate plant. In exchange, Mitsui would obtain the rights to purchase 100 percent of the plant’s output, currently expected to be 150,000 metric tons (MT) per year.

In a February 6 corporate update, Atlas shared that it has acquired five lithium mineral rights, which the company states augment the Minas Gerais project and bring its total lithium exploration area to about 75,000 acres. The next week, the company released results from third-party geochemical testing of drill cores taken from its flagship project’s Neves area; the data reveals a significant increase in the size of one of the asset's lithium-bearing pegmatites.

The company’s share price began climbing on February 17, eventually spiking all the way up to US$19.85 on February 23, the day before it rang the Nasdaq opening bell. While it fell back down to US$12.90 a few days later, it spiked by US$3.30 the day it was announced that Atlas’ CEO was invited to give a presentation on March 6 at the Brazilian Mining Day event at the 2023 PDAC convention and to be part of the Brasil delegation alongside other mining executives and Brazilian government authorities.

Year-to-date gain: 23.15 percent; market cap: US$1.1 billion; current share price: US$57.14

Based in the US state of North Carolina, Piedmont Lithium is focused on producing lithium hydroxide from spodumene ore in order to provide companies with a lithium hydroxide source outside of China, and it hopes to aid in the creation of an American battery supply chain. In addition to its fully integrated Carolina lithium project, the company also has properties in Ghana and in Quebec, Canada, including the North American Lithium joint venture with Sayona Mining (ASX:SYA,OTCQB:SYAXF).

Piedmont plans to create the largest US lithium hydroxide plant in Tennessee, which it will feed using lithium concentrate from its international investments. The company received a US$141.7 million grant for the plant from the US government last year.

In mid-February, Piedmont announced an offtake agreement with LG Chem (KRX:051910) for four years totaling 200,000 MT of lithium spodumene from the North American Lithium operation. LG Chem also plans to invest US$75 million in Piedmont, and is planning to build out the US battery metals supply chain, including a cathode plant in Tennessee. Piedmont's share price hit a year-to-date peak the day of that announcement, reaching US$73.46, and although it has since trended downwards it’s still up significantly since the start of the year.

Year-to-date gain: 198.77 percent; market cap: US$3.28 billion; current share price: US$31.70

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 the end of the 2022 year. Sigma anticipates Phase 1 production of 270,000 metric tons (MT) annually and Phase 2 production of 531,000 MT. In addition to that, the company is building a greentech dense media separation production plant, which it says will make its operations vertically integrated.

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. This expansion scenario "will potentially position (Sigma) as the world’s fourth largest lithium producer." In mid-August, Sigma shared an update on its “transformative” Q2, mentioning the previously announced news that it had increased the resource at Grota do Cirilo by 50 percent; a Phase 3 technical report has now been filed. Its share price 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.

Midway through November, Sigma released a Q3 update, providing further information on its many construction activities and the commencement of spodumene ore mining that month. Most recently, December 8 saw the announcement of expansion and financing milestones — according to Sigma, it has received positive economic results from a study focused on the potential to boost output at Grota do Cirilo from 270,000 MT in 2023 to 768,000 MT in the operation's second year.

Year-to-date gain: 20.7 percent; market cap: US$3.14 billion; current share price: US$23.27

Lithium Americas is focused on advancing its multiple significant lithium projects: Caucharí-Olaroz and Pastos Grandes in Argentina and Thacker Pass in Nevada, US. According to the lithium company, Thacker Pass holds “the largest known source of lithium in the United States and the third largest in the world.” Lithium Americas intends to separate into two entities by the end of 2023, US-focused Lithium Americas and Argentina-focused Lithium International.

After climbing through January, Lithium Americas’ share price jumped overnight on the news that the company and General Motors (NYSE:GM) would be jointly investing in developing Thacker Pass, with General Motors planning to invest a total of US$650 million in Lithium Americas over two tranches.

On February 7, the US District Court for Nevada ruled in Lithium Americas’ favor following an appeal of the Bureau of Land Management’s approval of the company’s plans for Thacker Pass. This news brought its share price to a year-to-date high of US$25.89.

The ruling caused General Motors to move forward with the agreement, and February 16 saw the completion of the first tranche with a US$320 million investment, which guarantees the car company exclusive access to phase 1 production from Thacker Pass. As of March 2, Lithium Americas has commenced construction, and phase 1 production of 40,000 MT per year is anticipated in H2 2026.

Year-to-date gain: 14 percent; market cap: US$4.12 billion; current share price: US$22.97

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.

Livent’s share price trended upwards throughout January, climbing from US$18.98 to US$25.92. On February 8, Livent announced it had received a Gold rating for sustainability from EcoVadis, an independent ratings agency focused on ESG, for the third consecutive year.

February 14 saw the release of Livent’s Q4 and fiscal year 2022 results. The company saw record financial results in 2022, with full year revenue of US$816 million compared to 2021’s US$420.4 million. Livent President and CEO Paul Graves stated in the release that the company expects even higher profitability in 2023. “This is driven by further expected increases in average realized pricing across our lithium products, as well as higher sales volumes with the first phase of our Argentina expansion coming online during the year,” he said.

The day after its Q4 results came out, the company’s share price climbed to a year-to-date high of US$27.39.