Key points
- The Arizona Lithium share price is setting a new 52-week high today
- Bullish sentiment towards lithium shares could be supporting a higher valuation for Arizona Lithium
- Prospects of a potentially valuable lithium resource at its Big Sandy Lithium Project is attracting attention
Partaking in the continuing boom in lithium shares, Arizona Lithium Ltd (ASX: AZL) shares are breaking new multi-year highs today.
At the time of writing, the lithium explorer's shares are swapping hands at 15 cents apiece, up 15.4%. As a result, the Arizona Lithium share price is up an astonishing 67% in the past month. Notably, shares in the $287 million company touched a new 52-week high of 16 cents earlier today.
What's with all the excitement for Arizona Lithium on the ASX?
Aside from the sector-wide optimism surging through the veins of lithium shares, Arizona Lithium has been charging higher since October 2021 on the back of its own developments.
Originally known as Hawkstone Mining, ASX-listed Arizona Lithium has evolved into a lithium explorer with a market capitalisation of more than $250 million. However, most of this valuation has only recently been obtained since the company honed in on its lithium prospects.
The company's most notable project is the Big Sandy Lithium Project located in Arizona, United States. In November, investors were provided with some uplifting information following metallurgical test work on the Big Sandy site.
According to the release, testing showed the ability to recover 71% of lithium in only 36% of the whole ore mass. Testing conducted by Hazen Research managed to produce "battery grade" 99.85% lithium carbonate from Big Sandy. This has enabled the lithium explorer to proceed with scoping and pre-feasibility studies.
Regarding this update, Arizona Lithium mining managing director Paul Lloyd said:
Given the large existing JORC compliant lithium resource that has excellent further upside potential, AZL's ability to produce a high-quality product in Arizona, USA, in a market with rapidly increasing demand and price, along with quality infrastructure choices and proactive State and Federal Governments, it presents a highly promising future for Arizona Lithium and its shareholders.
Lithium resource on offer
Based on a drill program conducted in 2019, Arizona Lithium estimates a total indicated and inferred JORC resource of 32.5 million tonnes at 1,850 parts per million lithium. In other words, the company estimates 320,800 tonnes of lithium carbonate present at the Big Sandy Project.
However, this estimation incorporates only 4% of the land area across the project. This gives the explorer the potential for further upsizing of the resource in the future.
Lastly, the ASX has witnessed the Arizona Lithium share price skyrocket over the last year. An investor from January 2021 would now be up 383% on their original investment.
