A number of ASX-listed lithium players have powered ahead in recent times. This comes as investors have been taking advantage of the hype surrounding the lithium revolution.
Indeed, a lot of attention has been turned to the incredible rise in the spot price for lithium.
Over the past year alone, lithium carbonate has rocketed by more than 435% in value.
The battery making ingredient is expected to be adopted across a number of industries, notably the transitioning to electric vehicles.
Lithium is mainly sourced from either spodumene or brine. Australia is home to the majority of the hard rock (spodumene) mines, while brine production is concentrated mainly in South America, particularly Chile and Argentina.
Below, we take a look at which are the top 10 lithium companies on the ASX by market capitalisation.
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Who are the ASX's biggest lithium companies?
According to the ASX, Australia's largest company that's involved in the lithium space is Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO).
The mining giant boasts a market capitalisation of $44.46 billion and is one of the biggest companies on the ASX.
Next up, is none other than Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN). The company had an offer price of just 90 cents per share when it floated in 2006. Since then, it has surged to $61.48 at the time of writing, representing an astonishing gain of 5,800%.
Mineral Resources commands a market capitalisation of around $11.62 billion.
Third on the list is Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) which is valued at $8.48 billion.
As you can see, the top two spots are taken up by companies that are predominately involved with the mining and export of iron ore. Pilbara Minerals on the other hand is the leading ASX-listed pure-play lithium company. It owns 100% of the world's largest, independent hard-rock lithium operation in the resource-rich Pilbara region.
The following three places on the biggest mining companies list are taken up by Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE), AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ), and Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR).
They preside a market capitalisation of $8.48 billion, $4.27 billion, and $3.68 billion, respectively.
The last four spots are covered by Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE), Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA), Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO), and De Grey Mining Limited (ASX: DEG).
The above companies have a market capitalisation of $2.88 billion, $2.76 billion, $2.56 billion, and $1.92 billion, respectively.
Foolish takeaway
In summary, selecting 9 out of 10 of these companies from 12 months ago would have increased your wealth.
Depending on which company you bought into, you could have achieved a gain of up to 800% on your investment. The latter is based on buying Sayona Mining shares which has been the best lithium company amongst the list.
The only company to produce a negative return is Rio Tinto, down 0.3% from this time last year. However, when factoring in the dividend, you would be slightly ahead.
