Lithium has been all the buzz in 2021, and on the ASX it's been no different. With the popularity of electric vehicles rising and green energy solutions looking to be the future, many lithium mining companies seem to be riding a continuous wave.
So let's take a look at which ASX lithium shares have been shooting it out of the park in 2021 year to date (YTD).
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The 5 top-performing ASX lithium stocks of the year so far
Lake Resources NL (ASX: LKE) – up 338% YTD
2021 has been a great year for the Lake Resources share price, which, at the time of writing, is up 337.5% year to date. Having started out the year at just 8 cents, the company's shares are currently trading at 35 cents. Lake Resources shares also boast an impressive 52-week return of 1,067%.
Lake Resources has four lithium projects currently underway and the largest lithium lease holding in Argentina, covering 2,000 square kilometres. The company states its operations take place in what is known as the Lithium Triangle – where 40% of the world's lithium is produced at low cost.
Its flagship Kachi Project has shown potential to become a long-life operation with an annual production target of 25,500 tonnes of battery grade lithium carbonate.
The company has a market capitalisation of around $355 million with approximately 1 billion shares outstanding.
Hawkstone Mining Ltd (ASX: HWK) – up 260% YTD
The Hawkstone Mining share price has rocketed through 2021. Having started the year at 1 cent, the company's shares are now trading for 3.6 cents, leaving Hawkstone's share price with a year to date gain of 260%. Further, it has risen by 620% over the last 12 months.
Hawkstone Mining's major lithium project is its flagship Big Sandy Project located in Arizona. The company also operates the Lordsburg Project in New Mexico. Hawkstone made the news earlier this month after reporting its Big Sandy project has produced battery-grade lithium.
Aside from Hawkstone's two lithium two projects, the company also holds gold and copper mines in Idaho and Utah.
Hawkstone Mining has a market capitalisation of around $60 million with approximately 1.6 billion shares outstanding.
Piedmont Lithium Ltd (ASX: PLL) – up 173% YTD
After starting out the year at 37 cents, the Piedmont share price is trading at $1.01 at the time of writing — a year-to-date increase of 172.97%. The company also boasts a massive 1,343% increase in its share price over the last 12 months.
Piedmont Lithium has only one project on its books but, according to the company, it's a good one. The Piedmont Lithium Project is in North Carolina, situated near two lithium processing facilities with plenty of nearby power and gas infrastructure. The Project is a source of battery-grade lithium and the company plans to supply it to the electric vehicle and battery storage markets. Piedmont shares rose by more than 80% on one day in September last year after the company announced signing a new deal with Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA).
Piedmont Lithium has a market capitalisation of $1.48 billion with approximately 1.3 billion shares outstanding.
Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) – up 200% YTD
The Sayona Mining share price started 2021 trading for 1.1 cents and is now trading for 3.3 cents, leaving it up 200% year to date. It is also up 371% over the last 12 months.
A self-professed emerging lithium miner, Sayona has mines in Quebec, Canada and Western Australia. In January, the company partnered with Piedmont Lithium so the companies could support each other's growth in North America. Sayona has since announced a 44% growth of claims at its Quebec project.
Sayona Mining has a market capitalisation of around $117 million with approximately 3.7 billion shares outstanding.
Anson Resources (ASX: ASN) – up 160% YTD
The Anson Resources Ltd share price has a year to date gain of 160%. It started this year trading at 3 cents and has since risen to trade at 7.8 cents at the time of writing. It's also up by 290% over the last 12 months.
Anson Resources' crown jewel is its flagship Paradox Basin Brine Project in Utah. The company is developing an industrial scale in-field pilot plant to produce lithium for lithium-ion battery manufactures to use for qualification testing. The company also has claims for a vanadium and uranium mine, also in Utah, as well as a graphite project and a nickel-cobalt laterite project in Western Australia.
Anson Resources has a market capitalisation of around $71 million with approximately 893 million shares outstanding.
