From the age of gold to the age of coal, and then oil, we are now entering the age of lithium--and, more importantly, we’re at the crucial junction where this increasingly precious metal lives up to its newest moniker of “the white gasoline”. Prices have tripled, supply is already tight, and demand is poised to make new barons out of today’s lithium explorers.
More to the point, this is the moment when investment turns into profit; the moment when everyone stops hedging solid bets on lithium, and it all becomes a very profitable reality.
The supercharged electric vehicle industry may be in a bit of a panic over readily available lithium supply, but the problem isn’t supply itself--lithium is quite abundant. The problem is finding and developing new supply to keep pace with voracious new demand.
It’s also about looking beyond the obvious and casting a wider exploration net. The land rush is already on in full force in the Clayton Valley in Nevada—ground zero for the American lithium boom. Nevada’s geology tells a much more lucrative story, and so far we’ve only got the introduction.
Junior pure-play miners are starting to look beyond the obvious in Nevada--casting the exploration net much wider while at the same time securing production in Clayton Valley, the heart of the lithium land rush.
Cornering first new production and simultaneously capturing second phase new production from completely unexplored and untapped Nevada terrain is the key to cashing in on the lithium boom in both the near-term and long-term.
And if you don’t see how this is playing out, just look at the EV segment. It’s already going mainstream, even UBER has jumped on board. There is no turning back.
Tesla has stormed the mainstream U.S. market with its newest model; EVs have already entered the profit stage in Norway, and will soon be followed by the Netherlands, helped out by some EV-market-loving laws that demand that every single car in the country be electric by 2025. In Asia, too, EVs are bursting the traditional car bubble.
And with a mind-boggling 12 battery gigafactories on the books globally, we’re looking at a supply and demand equation that is overwhelming in favor of the new lithium miner.
The surge this year in spot prices in China, the ravaging hunger for lithium batteries and power storage solutions has triggered fears that we are on the edge of a major supply problem—but it’s a euphoric problem for lithium exploration companies and it has opened up the playing field to new entrants.
If you have any doubts about how to play the lithium boom—think junior, think Nevada lithium plays.
This is the best way to gain exposure to this precious metal that is already seeing demand overtake supply by the fourth quarter of this year, China’s EV demand in particular is poised to push prices up in this period.
There are some major benefits of lithium brine exploration from a cost perspective that makes it favourable to many hard rock projects. Lithium brine deposits are considered placer deposits and are easier to permit. Brine is also a liquid which means that drilling to find it is more akin to drilling for water, and once it is found the continuity is more straightforward.
Once a deposit is discovered, advanced exploration and development can also be at a discount ,permitting for construction and production is faster because of the placer classification.
Lithium brine exploration has benefits from the angle of cost that make it less expensive than most comparable hard rock projects
According to Steve the turnaround for results from samples takes approx 2 weeks after being sent to Reno
BLM approval applications have been submitted and an Announcement could arrive anytime from now....enjoy the journey once approvals come in the price is atm is most likely a price that will be a distant memory.
It’s a market that simply won’t wait for you. Lithium trading at over $20,000 per metric ton is just the very beginning. We haven’t seen anything yet.
CAD = right place at the right time
GLTAH
CAD Price at posting:
0.4¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
