Yes, its interesting the existing miners are getting record...

Yes, its interesting the existing miners are getting record prices for their spod while Chinese lithium carbonate prices are supposedly retracing a little. From the thread you linked,

- GXY: "prices remain significantly elevated on a year-on-year (“YoY”) basis (c.+21% for lithium carbonate, c.+5% for lithium hydroxide in China)"
- ORE: "Record price received of US$13,533/tonne on a free on board basis (FOB), up 17% quarter on quarter (QoQ)" [equates to about US$1,000/t for spod. and the kicker] "Prices for the June quarter 2018 are expected to be higher than in the March 2018 quarter"
- MIN: "The market price for 6% spodumene was $USD900 per tonne...during the current quarter with the prices increasing by 6.8% to $USD960...from April 2018"

I wonder if its converters etc trying to snap up future production with generous offtakes in anticipation of the expected big increases in demand. From my plot, this sector splitting is starting to show up as those in or close to production seem to be recovering better. The saving grace is the demand which I think will swamp supply but clearly getting AVZ progressing quickly is beneficial. Nigel's 'fast tracking' after drilling is important.