The Infinity Lithium Corporation Ltd (ASX: INF) share price is in the green today.
Shares in the ASX lithium explorer are currently up 9%, trading at 18 cents apiece after earlier spiking 18% higher to an intraday high of 20 cents.
Meanwhile, S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) is down on Friday, recording a 1.83% loss at the time of writing.
So Infinity Lithium Corp shares are flying high above its peers' aggregate share price performance in the basic materials sector — but how come?
The short of it is that the company made a significant announcement this morning. Let's take a look.
What's going on with the ASX lithium share?
The company advised that Extremadura, an autonomous community in Spain, has declared that lithium extraction and processing are of "regional and general interest". Consequently, the community's regional government has passed a new decree-law for lithium projects to incorporate lithium processing in their operations.
This is bullish news for Infinity Lithium, as its San José lithium extraction and processing plant is already well-established in Extremadura's province of Caceres.
Extremadura New Energies CEO Ramón Jiménez was quoted in the company release today as saying:
San José is a world-class and large-scale integrated lithium project built on the foundations of a very significant hard rock lithium resource.
The progressive vision of the government ensures the feedstock at San José is aligned to the strategic interests of the region through an integrated facility that has become the blueprint for all lithium projects in Extremadura.
The company welcomed the stance, saying:
The decree has reinforced lithium as a product of regional interest and integrated lithium operations as regional interest business projects ('PREMIA'), in effect prioritising permitting, recognition as public utility projects, and access to employment grants.
Infinity Lithium share price snapshot
Despite today's gains, the Infinity Lithium share price is down 5.26% year to date. Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has dropped 9.91% lower over the same period.
The company's market capitalisation is around $72 million at the time of writing.
