If I’d bought $5,000 of Core Lithium shares at the start of this financial year, guess how much I'd have now?

If I'd bought $5,000 of Core Lithium shares at the start of this financial year, guess how much I'd have now?

Core Lithium has been a major beneficiary of soaring demand for lithium, which has sent prices for the battery critical metal to record highs.

Bernd Struben

Author bio Bernd Struben earned his BA in economics from the University of Michigan in 1991, with post-graduate studies in environmental economics at the University of Connecticut. Over the years he’s written about and analysed the tourism industry in the Caribbean; Europe’s commercial real estate markets; and, since moving to Australia in 2010, global and Aussie share markets. Bernd studies geopolitical and macroeconomic trends, alongside sector and company specific data, to gauge what he believes could be tomorrow's best investments. In his free time, you might find Bernd at the beach with his family or working on his next science fiction novel. Areas of expertise Australian and global share markets Macroeconomic and geopolitical trends Real estate Education Economics, University of Michigan Favorite investment quote "The four most dangerous words in investing are: 'This time it's different." — Sir John Templeton

Published November 25, 2022 10:42 am AEDT

Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) shares kicked off the new financial year (1 July) trading for 94 cents apiece.

In early morning trade today, shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) lithium stock are swapping hands for $1.42 apiece.

The company doesn't, as yet, pay any dividends as it works towards first lithium production.

Meaning if I'd bought $5,000 of Core Lithium shares at the start of FY23 I'd be sitting on $7,553 and change today.

A handy $2,553 in less than five months.

That's a heck of a lot better than the slightly improved interest I've been earning from my cash deposit account. Though investing in shares does come with significantly more risk, as shares can certainly post losses as well as gains.

So, how have Core Lithium shares managed to march 51% higher with more than half the new financial year yet to go?

Two smiling men in high visibility vests and yellow hardhats stand side by side with a large mound of earth and mining equipment behind them smiling as the Carnaby Resources share price rises today — Image source: Getty Images

What's driving ASX 200 investor interest in the lithium stock?

Core Lithium has been a major beneficiary of soaring demand for lithium.

Prices for lithium carbonate have more than doubled over the calendar year as EV makers scramble to secure supplies of the lightweight, conductive metal, a critical component in the batteries that power their vehicles.

Investors have been snapping up Core Lithium shares with an eye on the company's Finniss Project, located near port of Darwin in the Northern Territory. That project is expected to deliver its first lithium production within the coming months.

The Australian federal government has already awarded Finnis with Major Project Status. And, according to Core Lithium, Finnis is one of the most capital efficient lithium projects and the most advanced lithium project on the ASX.

How have Core Lithium shares been tracking longer-term?

We know investors who bought Core Lithium shares on the first day of the new financial year are sitting on gains of 51% today.

But investors with telescopic foresight who bought shares five years ago will have bagged a gain of… wait for it…1,186%.

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