The Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) share price is in the red today amid the company announcing a positive update.
At the time of writing, the clean lithium developer's shares are down 13.69% to $1.355.
Let's take a look at what's driving the fall in the company's share price.
What's happened to Lake Resources shares?
Investors are selling off Lake Resources shares as market sentiment wears off across the lithium space.
Shares in lithium peers Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) are down 6.9% while Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) is 7.14% lower.
Furthermore, the S&P/ASX 300 Metals and Mining Industry (ASX: XMM) has dropped 5% today. The index contains the top 300 ASX companies that are involved with gold, steel, and precious metals.
According to an announcement from Lake Resources this morning, the company advised Stu Crow will serve as executive chair on its board.
Crow will oversee the transition to serve the company's critical North American and Asian supply chains. This includes hiring a new CEO, board members, and establishing the company's United States offices.
The transition is expected to occur over a six-month period.
Currently, Lake Resources is developing four lithium brine projects in Argentina with more than 150 people working across the sites.
The company has one of the largest lithium lease holdings in Argentina, acquiring more than 2,200 square kilometres of land. The majority of these leases are wholly-owned.
Management commentary
Commenting on the company's ambitions, Crow said:
Lake's aspirational target is to reach capacity of 100,000 tonnes per annum by 2030 which will underpin Lake's ambition to become a leading global producer of sustainable high purity lithium.
We are now establishing a North American presence to serve our off-take customers, continue to work with our US-based technology partner, and engage capital markets.
We are aligning project delivery, extraction technology, and operations. We are interviewing candidates with exceptional experience for the CEO and managing director role, and also candidates for the board to reflect growth of the company in the US markets.
As part of the transition, Lake Resources managing director Steve Promnitz will step down from his role.
Crow further added:
In this regard we are exceptionally grateful for Steve's pioneering efforts in project generation to establish Lake's presence in Argentina.
Lake Resources share price snapshot
Despite today's heavy fall, the Lake Resources share price has been one of the best places to invest in the past year.
In 12 months, the company's shares are up almost 350%.
Based on valuation grounds, Lake Resources commands a market capitalisation of roughly $1.8 billion.
