Ann: Exploration Program Commences at Muddy Mountain-CAD.AX, page-88

Of late there has been much speculation about the "lithium boom". There have been predictions of a bust and bullish reports on share price rises, such as that of Core Exploration, which has recently seen a 60% rise in its market valuation.

Yet, as investors will know, since lithium is not itself traded publicly the typical play has been to invest individually in the big four mining companies or to purchase a lithium ETF, which offers exposure to a basket of suppliers.

Investing in some of the more junior lithium producers may, however, also offer the potential of significant returns. Indeed, should any of the junior players prove successful, they are likely to attract the attention of industry players such as Albemarle, who have previously demonstrated their willingness to invest heavily in the future of lithium with their $6.2bn takeover of industry heavyweight Rockwood.