It has been another spectacular day for the AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ) share price on Wednesday.
In morning trade, the lithium developer's shares jumped 11% to a new record high of 78.5 cents.
When the AVZ share price reached that level, it meant it was up 360% since the start of the year.
Why is the AVZ share price shooting higher?
Investors have been bidding the AVZ share price higher today despite there being no news out of it.
However, it is worth highlighting that a number of lithium shares are rising strongly today amid the ever-increasing bullish sentiment in the sector.
For example, Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) shares are both recording strong gains at the time of writing. In fact, the latter is the best performer on the ASX 200 on Wednesday.
What else is boosting its shares?
Also boosting the AVZ share price has been a recent development in relation to its Manono Lithium Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Over the last few years there have been doubts that this project would ever see the light of day. But thanks to record high lithium prices, it now appears likely to be given the green light in the near future.
Especially after AVZ received firm commitments to raise $75 million (before costs) at 50 cents per new share earlier this month. Approximately 85% of the funds were raised from global institutions, with the balance coming from existing sophisticated shareholders. This includes cornerstone investor Suzhou CATH Energy Technologies.
AVZ's Managing Director, Nigel Ferguson, believes this was an important milestone for the company.
He commented: "This capital raising marks an important milestone in our journey to develop the Manono Project which strengthens the financial position of the Company and will assist to keep the Project timeline within reach."
