Due to increasing demand for lithium for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy, the white metal has increased in value materially over the last 12 months.
This led to strong gains being recorded by a large number of lithium stocks in 2021. And while some of the bigger players, such as Pilbara Mineral Ltd (ASX: PLS), have struggled to build on this in 2022, that hasn't stopped some emerging players from rocketing higher.
Listed below are three of the best performing lithium stocks on the All Ordinaries index in 2022:
Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO)
The Core Lithium share price has rocketed 80% since the start of the year. There have been a couple of key catalysts for this impressive gain. The main one was the announcement of a binding agreement with auto giant Tesla. The two parties have signed an agreement for the supply of 110,000 tonnes of lithium spodumene concentrate across a four-year period from its Finniss Lithium Project near Darwin. Also getting investors excited were some drilling results from the Carlton deposit of the project. Management advised that eight of the nine holes intersected spodumene bearing pegmatite mineralisation. It expects this to underpin an upgrade to the mineral resource of the project.
Piedmont Lithium Inc (ASX: PLL)
The Piedmont Lithium share price has been a strong performer in 2022 with a 41% gain. This was driven largely by the release of its 2022 lithium development plans. Piedmont revealed that it expects to double its US lithium hydroxide production to 60,000 tonnes per year. All in all, the company ultimately plans to produce or have offtake rights to an estimated 500,000 tonnes per year of SC6 production. This leaves the US-based lithium miner well-placed to meet demand for the metal in North America.
AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ)
The AVZ Minerals share price has started 2022 strongly and is up 18.1% since the turn of the year. Investors reacted positively to news that the lithium explorer has committed to invest $25 million to advance the drilling program at the Manono Lithium and Tin Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This program is being supported by a recent $75 million capital raising.
