The Lake Resources NL (ASX: LKE) share price sunk today amid a broader lithium market selloff.
The company's shares fell 12.9% to $1.35 each. In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) dropped just 0.32% today.
Let's take a look at why the Lake Resources share price struggled today.
ASX lithium shares tumble
Lake Resources may have fallen but it wasn't the only ASX lithium share to slide today.
The Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price descended a whopping 20.43%, while Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) fell 15.39%. Meanwhile, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) shed a mammoth 22%.
This followed a similar trend in US markets on Tuesday. The Lithium Americas (NYSE: LAC) share price fell nearly 13% on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday following a note out of Goldman Sachs.
Goldman predicted a sharp correction in lithium prices from around $60,000 per tonne to $54,000 in 2022 and $16,000 per tonne in 2023. Analysts declared "we see the battery metals bull market as over for now".
Lake Resources is targeting lithium carbonate production from the Kachi Lithium Brine Project in Argentina in 2024.
Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Houston have reportedly discovered a potential substitute to lithium-based battery technology.
Scientists have developed sodium glassy electrodes that can support "long-duration, grid-scale energy storage", Science Daily reported in the US overnight. The research has been published in Nature Communications. A researcher at the University of Houston, Ye Zhang, said:
The new structural and compositional design strategies presented in this work provide a new paradigm in the development of safe, low-cost, energy-dense, and long-lifetime solid-state sodium batteries.
Further, Argentina announced it would set a reference price for lithium carbonate exports of US$53 per kilogram, as my Foolish colleague Bernd reported this morning. This aims to "avoid maneuvering that impacts tax revenues and dollar sales".
Share price snapshot
The Lake Resources share price has surged 419% in the past year while it has gained nearly 34% year to date.
For perspective, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has climbed about 1% in a year.
Lake Resources has a market capitalisation of about $1.8 billion based on its current share price.
