High Voltage: Trump throws out EV mandate in lithium blow, but US rare earths still on agenda

Analysts say lithium fundamentals could improve despite Donald Trump’s dumping of Joe Biden’s EV policy.

Lithium could be on shaky ground as President Trump signs a swathe of executive orders scrapping Biden’s Federal EV focus. Pic: Getty Images.

• Trump signs executive orders to support mining and processing of rare earths

• US President also scraps previous administration’s EV mandate

• Fastmarkets forecasts improved lithium fundamentals amid trade tensions

Our High Voltage column wraps all the news driving ASX stocks with exposure to lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, rare earths, and vanadium.

There’s been a lot of commentary this week about what a second Trump presidency means for battery metals globally, with research firms like Fastmarkets confident that geopolitical tensions between the US and China will continue.

So far, those moves have included Trump’s Unleashing American Energy executive order which detailed an elimination of the "electric vehicle mandate" from Biden’s administration.

This might mean the lithium market – and Trump’s relationship with EV carmaker billionaire and convenient best friend Elon Musk – could be on shaky ground going forwards.

But it looks like rare earths is fairly safe. The executive order states that President Trump will “establish our position as leading producer and processor of non-fuel materials, including rare earth minerals, which will create jobs and prosperity at home, strengthen supply chains for the United States and its allies, and reduce the global influence of malign and adversarial states.”

That doesn’t mean there’s no room for improvement, particularly for lithium.

Fastmarkets head of battery metals Paul Lusty reckons fundamentals for lithium could improve this year, despite the challenges of 2024, with prices suffering from oversupply and lower than expected demand.

“Production restraint and improving, albeit disparate demand outlook means the fundamentals appear better,” he said.

“We expect prices to see some support in 2025 as the surplus narrows down and inventories fall.”

However, he did note that the new administration’s first moves in office are likely to cause “increased trade tensions and market volatility in the year ahead."

Battery Metals Winners and Losers

Here’s how a basket of ASX stocks with exposure to lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, rare earths, magnesium, manganese and vanadium is performing >>>

Code	Company	Price	% Week	% Month	% Six Month	% Year	Market Cap
XTC	XTC Lithium Limited	0.2	19900%	19900%	19900%	19900%	$17,528,272
AQD	Ausquest Limited	0.017	113%	89%	60%	76%	$9,039,478
RLC	Reedy Lagoon Corp.	0.003	50%	50%	0%	-40%	$2,330,120
SCN	Scorpion Minerals	0.021	40%	40%	24%	-32%	$8,189,124
PEK	Peak Rare Earths Ltd	0.165	38%	50%	-6%	-43%	$52,750,860
AX8	Accelerate Resources	0.011	38%	38%	-15%	-58%	$5,595,785
PEK	Peak Rare Earths Ltd	0.165	38%	50%	-6%	-43%	$52,750,860
L1M	Lightning Minerals	0.0905	37%	21%	39%	-9%	$9,816,190
CRI	Criticalim	0.019	36%	58%	6%	138%	$45,703,626
AKN	Auking Mining Ltd	0.004	33%	-20%	-78%	-90%	$2,059,115
TMX	Terrain Minerals	0.004	33%	33%	33%	-20%	$7,242,782
MOH	Moho Resources	0.005	25%	25%	0%	-50%	$3,582,373
TEM	Tempest Minerals	0.005	25%	25%	-38%	-35%	$3,172,649
FBM	Future Battery	0.027	23%	35%	8%	-58%	$17,964,610
ZNC	Zenith Minerals Ltd	0.045	22%	13%	-15%	-73%	$17,112,540
EG1	Evergreenlithium	0.085	21%	33%	49%	-32%	$4,779,550
CHR	Charger Metals	0.067	20%	6%	12%	-50%	$5,187,157
VR8	Vanadium Resources	0.031	19%	-3%	-39%	-34%	$17,441,381
INR	Ioneer Ltd	0.19	19%	31%	36%	73%	$494,691,228
LTR	Liontown Resources	0.68	17%	28%	-29%	-28%	$1,710,759,517
CTM	Centaurus Metals Ltd	0.41	17%	22%	19%	28%	$198,680,485
LOT	Lotus Resources Ltd	0.2575	17%	43%	-13%	-18%	$578,849,726
IXR	Ionic Rare Earths	0.007	17%	17%	-30%	-63%	$31,370,570
AVL	Aust Vanadium Ltd	0.015	15%	25%	-12%	-21%	$129,519,871
WR1	Winsome Resources	0.495	15%	22%	-20%	-17%	$110,942,837
OD6	Od6Metalsltd	0.069	15%	97%	41%	-43%	$9,293,622
SMX	Strata Minerals	0.031	15%	35%	19%	-3%	$6,106,085
MEK	Meeka Metals Limited	0.1125	15%	52%	204%	196%	$273,528,012
SBR	Sabre Resources	0.008	14%	-27%	-43%	-69%	$3,143,695
TON	Triton Min Ltd	0.008	14%	0%	-20%	-60%	$12,547,110
SLZ	Sultan Resources Ltd	0.008	14%	33%	0%	-52%	$1,851,759
EFE	Eastern Resources	0.032	14%	23%	-36%	-54%	$4,034,878
TKM	Trek Metals Ltd	0.024	14%	0%	-29%	-37%	$12,482,949
E25	Element 25 Ltd	0.3025	14%	16%	29%	-2%	$74,770,216
AXN	Alliance Nickel Ltd	0.033	14%	-6%	-13%	-20%	$23,226,868
TVN	Tivan Limited	0.125	14%	45%	127%	119%	$240,240,809
M24	Mamba Exploration	0.017	13%	42%	42%	-69%	$3,994,274
MHK	Metalhawk.	0.345	13%	21%	563%	288%	$37,247,101
POS	Poseidon Nick Ltd	0.0045	13%	13%	-2%	-45%	$16,815,567
CNJ	Conico Ltd	0.009	13%	-25%	-10%	-78%	$2,137,386
EMT	Emetals Limited	0.0045	13%	-10%	-10%	-36%	$3,825,000
CY5	Cygnus Metals Ltd	0.135	13%	29%	121%	45%	$118,764,751
HAW	Hawthorn Resources	0.046	12%	12%	-29%	-53%	$15,410,718
PTR	Petratherm Ltd	0.425	12%	60%	2137%	1271%	$139,138,465
WIN	WIN Metals	0.019	12%	0%	-21%	-79%	$11,001,162
GCM	Green Critical Min	0.02	11%	300%	567%	186%	$38,486,066
LIN	Lindian Resources	0.1	11%	28%	-13%	-31%	$115,292,224
ARL	Ardea Resources Ltd	0.355	11%	11%	-28%	-14%	$68,890,606
AXE	Archer Materials	0.44	10%	10%	47%	47%	$118,503,861
BOA	BOA Resources Ltd	0.022	10%	10%	10%	-37%	$2,713,763
DRE	Dreadnought Resources Ltd	0.011	10%	10%	-50%	-56%	$41,445,800
KTA	Krakatoa Resources	0.011	10%	10%	0%	-45%	$6,491,474
NVA	Nova Minerals Ltd	0.345	10%	8%	57%	5%	$111,082,209
THR	Thor Energy PLC	0.012	9%	-8%	-25%	-67%	$3,263,216
CXO	Core Lithium	0.097	9%	18%	-3%	-53%	$214,301,554
TOR	Torque Met	0.058	8%	12%	-55%	-72%	$14,480,508
QPM	QPM Energy Limited	0.0715	8%	43%	99%	74%	$173,968,026
SRL	Sunrise	0.325	8%	51%	-32%	-23%	$30,677,349
TLG	Talga Group Ltd	0.46	8%	5%	2%	-18%	$201,845,881
CHN	Chalice Mining Ltd	1.22	8%	10%	11%	20%	$474,612,681
EUR	European Lithium Ltd	0.068	8%	94%	45%	-20%	$109,833,791
RON	Roninresourcesltd	0.205	8%	37%	71%	32%	$8,276,877
SRZ	Stellar Resources	0.014	8%	0%	-36%	100%	$29,116,508
EMC	Everest Metals Corp	0.145	7%	4%	12%	84%	$31,329,737
PGD	Peregrine Gold	0.15	7%	11%	-30%	-49%	$9,842,371
VMC	Venus Metals Cor Ltd	0.065	7%	3%	-20%	-34%	$12,944,493
LRS	Latin Resources Ltd	0.165	6%	18%	0%	-3%	$477,001,711
EMN	Euromanganese	0.034	6%	-3%	-49%	-60%	$6,721,248
PFE	Pantera Lithium	0.017	6%	-6%	-52%	-64%	$8,054,323
QEM	QEM Limited	0.07	6%	100%	-47%	-63%	$13,358,358
LMG	Latrobe Magnesium	0.018	6%	-5%	-57%	-68%	$39,925,135
DEV	Devex Resources Ltd	0.092	6%	2%	-67%	-65%	$39,752,160
ARR	American Rare Earths	0.28	6%	10%	0%	93%	$146,862,757
VTM	Victory Metals Ltd	0.38	6%	-4%	0%	65%	$41,231,031
WCN	White Cliff Min Ltd	0.02	5%	25%	25%	25%	$37,909,415
MLX	Metals X Limited	0.4525	5%	12%	6%	71%	$398,876,192
NTU	Northern Min Ltd	0.021	5%	5%	-32%	-22%	$157,675,236
CWX	Carawine Resources	0.105	5%	6%	22%	0%	$24,793,172
FRB	Firebird Metals	0.105	5%	7%	-30%	5%	$14,947,947
FLG	Flagship Min Ltd	0.043	5%	0%	-47%	-74%	$8,699,931
JLL	Jindalee Lithium Ltd	0.215	5%	13%	-28%	-79%	$16,558,166
IDA	Indiana Resources	0.065	5%	7%	40%	53%	$41,777,610
EGR	Ecograf Limited	0.092	5%	5%	-23%	-37%	$40,871,864
LM1	Leeuwin Metals Ltd	0.12	4%	20%	46%	-8%	$5,622,201
KNG	Kingsland Minerals	0.12	4%	-14%	-43%	-59%	$8,707,309
ESR	Estrella Res Ltd	0.025	4%	9%	525%	400%	$47,525,963
BMM	Bayanminingandmin	0.05	4%	6%	-26%	-48%	$4,302,026
KAI	Kairos Minerals Ltd	0.0135	4%	4%	50%	4%	$34,201,858
PSC	Prospect Res Ltd	0.0965	4%	12%	-23%	29%	$55,457,204
EMH	European Metals Hldg	0.14	4%	-10%	-49%	-54%	$29,042,259
JMS	Jupiter Mines.	0.145	4%	7%	-43%	-15%	$284,351,055
PLS	Pilbara Min Ltd	2.365	3%	14%	-18%	-29%	$7,259,905,377
RVT	Richmond Vanadium	0.165	3%	-23%	-43%	-48%	$36,602,500
GL1	Globallith	0.18	3%	6%	-33%	-66%	$47,111,782
IGO	IGO Limited	5.245	3%	9%	-8%	-25%	$4,043,810,121
S32	South32 Limited	3.515	3%	5%	18%	12%	$16,082,000,184
KOB	Kobaresourceslimited	0.074	3%	-4%	-47%	-45%	$11,574,998
KZR	Kalamazoo Resources	0.078	3%	0%	5%	-18%	$15,622,278
STK	Strickland Metals	0.079	3%	-6%	-17%	-28%	$167,763,520
ABX	ABX Group Limited	0.041	3%	28%	-25%	-43%	$10,262,031
LPM	Lithium Plus	0.089	2%	-1%	-19%	-60%	$11,291,400
ARN	Aldoro Resources	0.27	2%	-13%	233%	229%	$52,387,123
PVW	PVW Res Ltd	0.014	0%	8%	-46%	-73%	$2,784,667
INF	Infinity Lithium	0.029	0%	21%	-46%	-64%	$13,415,171
QXR	Qx Resources Limited	0.003	0%	0%	-63%	-86%	$3,930,234
LPD	Lepidico Ltd	0.002	0%	0%	-33%	-65%	$17,178,371
CZN	Corazon Ltd	0.002	0%	0%	-60%	-83%	$2,369,145
MAN	Mandrake Res Ltd	0.022	0%	0%	-19%	-45%	$13,172,458
GBR	Greatbould Resources	0.045	0%	7%	-22%	-29%	$34,918,615
CLA	Celsius Resource Ltd	0.01	0%	-9%	-17%	-17%	$24,023,146
NH3	Nh3Cleanenergyltd	0.019	0%	6%	36%	90%	$10,442,491
MNS	Magnis Energy Tech	0.042	0%	0%	0%	0%	$50,378,922
VRC	Volt Resources Ltd	0.003	0%	0%	-40%	-57%	$12,639,719
PNN	Power Minerals Ltd	0.09	0%	-6%	-22%	-51%	$10,246,939
ADV	Ardiden Ltd	0.14	0%	8%	4%	-15%	$8,752,451
AAJ	Aruma Resources Ltd	0.01	0%	-9%	-17%	-60%	$2,220,582
EVG	Evion Group NL	0.026	0%	13%	24%	-4%	$9,368,006
PRL	Province Resources	0.041	0%	0%	0%	0%	$48,441,219
LIT	Livium Ltd	0.016	0%	-11%	-27%	-45%	$22,780,186
JRV	Jervois Global Ltd	0.011	0%	-8%	-39%	-67%	$29,730,402
VML	Vital Metals Limited	0.003	0%	50%	0%	-50%	$17,685,201
AUZ	Australian Mines Ltd	0.012	0%	20%	33%	50%	$16,782,145
SYA	Sayona Mining Ltd	0.024	0%	-8%	-27%	-43%	$277,039,104
ATM	Aneka Tambang	0.89	0%	-5%	-17%	-25%	$1,160,248
ALY	Alchemy Resource Ltd	0.007	0%	17%	0%	-22%	$8,246,534
LEL	Lithenergy	0.37	0%	0%	1%	-19%	$41,440,581
REE	Rarex Limited	0.009	0%	13%	-40%	-61%	$7,207,613
MRC	Mineral Commodities	0.026	0%	0%	0%	-10%	$25,596,288
LEG	Legend Mining	0.01	0%	0%	-23%	-29%	$29,094,772
AML	Aeon Metals Ltd.	0.005	0%	0%	0%	-44%	$5,482,003
WKT	Walkabout Resources	0.095	0%	0%	-10%	-17%	$63,769,838
MLS	Metals Australia	0.023	0%	10%	21%	-32%	$16,726,049
MRR	Minrex Resources Ltd	0.008	0%	0%	-16%	-47%	$9,763,808
EVR	Ev Resources Ltd	0.002	0%	0%	-56%	-78%	$4,531,258
BNR	Bulletin Res Ltd	0.037	0%	-10%	-24%	-59%	$10,863,693
AS2	Askarimetalslimited	0.011	0%	-4%	-74%	-93%	$2,843,602
BYH	Bryah Resources Ltd	0.004	0%	33%	-20%	-69%	$2,013,147
DTM	Dart Mining NL	0.01	0%	0%	-39%	-22%	$5,980,556
EMS	Eastern Metals	0.015	0%	15%	-52%	-58%	$1,705,144
IMI	Infinitymining	0.011	0%	-15%	-39%	-92%	$4,631,174
RAG	Ragnar Metals Ltd	0.02	0%	0%	0%	-13%	$9,479,720
TMB	Tambourahmetals	0.025	0%	9%	-43%	-72%	$2,764,751
KOR	Korab Resources	0.008	0%	0%	0%	-50%	$2,936,400
CMX	Chemxmaterials	0.026	0%	0%	-42%	-67%	$3,354,580
CMO	Cosmometalslimited	0.019	0%	0%	-67%	-68%	$2,488,865
KGD	Kula Gold Limited	0.005	0%	-24%	-56%	-59%	$3,216,060
ENT	Enterprise Metals	0.003	0%	-25%	0%	-25%	$3,534,952
ENV	Enova Mining Limited	0.005	0%	-17%	-50%	-76%	$4,924,647
RR1	Reach Resources Ltd	0.007	0%	0%	-42%	-49%	$6,121,019
PNT	Panthermetalsltd	0.009	0%	0%	-64%	-79%	$2,233,537
WMG	Western Mines	0.135	0%	-4%	-45%	-27%	$12,197,701
AVW	Avira Resources Ltd	0.001	0%	0%	0%	-50%	$2,938,790
CAI	Calidus Resources	0.115	0%	0%	0%	-44%	$93,678,206
STM	Sunstone Metals Ltd	0.007	0%	0%	-22%	-42%	$36,049,325
ASO	Aston Minerals Ltd	0.01	0%	0%	0%	-50%	$12,950,643
YAR	Yari Minerals Ltd	0.003	0%	0%	0%	-70%	$1,447,073
ODE	Odessa Minerals Ltd	0.0065	0%	-7%	117%	-19%	$11,196,728
LNR	Lanthanein Resources	0.002	0%	-33%	-50%	-75%	$6,109,090
CLZ	Classic Min Ltd	0.001	0%	0%	0%	-98%	$1,544,026
OCN	Oceanalithiumlimited	0.027	0%	8%	-24%	-56%	$3,712,402
M2R	Miramar	0.004	0%	0%	-64%	-82%	$1,587,293
RR1	Reach Resources Ltd	0.007	0%	0%	-42%	-49%	$6,121,019
AOA	Ausmon Resorces	0.002	0%	33%	0%	-33%	$2,179,455
GRL	Godolphin Resources	0.013	0%	-7%	-19%	-68%	$5,027,381
LNR	Lanthanein Resources	0.002	0%	-33%	-50%	-75%	$6,109,090
A11	Atlantic Lithium	0.255	0%	-6%	-34%	-29%	$173,286,828
BUR	Burleyminerals	0.083	0%	32%	-34%	-36%	$12,480,788
PBL	Parabellumresources	0.055	0%	2%	38%	-10%	$3,426,500
WA1	Wa1Resourcesltd	13.3	0%	-2%	-14%	29%	$937,863,498
OM1	Omnia Metals Group	0.078	0%	0%	0%	0%	$4,550,568
LLL	Leolithiumlimited	0.332997	0%	0%	0%	0%	$401,057,170
SRN	Surefire Rescs NL	0.004	0%	0%	-38%	-56%	$9,665,231
WSR	Westar Resources	0.008	0%	14%	0%	-57%	$3,588,523
LU7	Lithium Universe Ltd	0.009	0%	13%	-35%	-65%	$7,073,817
FIN	FIN Resources Ltd	0.004	0%	-20%	-33%	-78%	$2,597,075
LCY	Legacy Iron Ore	0.009	0%	0%	-42%	-48%	$87,858,383
ASR	Asra Minerals Ltd	0.003	0%	0%	-50%	-54%	$6,937,890
KM1	Kalimetalslimited	0.12	0%	9%	-33%	-78%	$9,219,315
LTM	Arcadium Lithium PLC	9.13	-1%	16%	76%	22%	$2,268,799,886
BHP	BHP Group Limited	39.43	-1%	0%	-5%	-14%	$201,941,267,282
ASM	Ausstratmaterials	0.495	-1%	5%	-29%	-53%	$89,753,220
BM8	Battery Age Minerals	0.099	-1%	-1%	-27%	-46%	$9,914,317
RXL	Rox Resources	0.2275	-1%	30%	63%	48%	$115,880,896
NC1	Nicoresourceslimited	0.091	-1%	1%	-35%	-65%	$10,397,805
NMT	Neometals Ltd	0.079	-1%	14%	10%	-50%	$60,784,582
LRV	Larvottoresources	0.69	-1%	53%	527%	978%	$245,473,838
BCA	Black Canyon Limited	0.065	-2%	-2%	-22%	-41%	$6,895,462
AGY	Argosy Minerals Ltd	0.0295	-2%	2%	-64%	-68%	$42,221,707
NIC	Nickel Industries	0.835	-2%	2%	4%	46%	$3,646,338,398
SYR	Syrah Resources	0.24	-2%	37%	-21%	-37%	$258,722,942
MTM	MTM Critical Metals	0.24	-2%	66%	515%	243%	$103,124,906
WC8	Wildcat Resources	0.24	-2%	7%	-6%	-42%	$321,188,281
SYR	Syrah Resources	0.24	-2%	37%	-21%	-37%	$258,722,942
LKE	Lake Resources	0.04	-2%	-2%	11%	-62%	$71,222,166
RNU	Renascor Res Ltd	0.0575	-3%	3%	-36%	-28%	$147,437,865
BUX	Buxton Resources Ltd	0.038	-3%	0%	-53%	-76%	$8,446,734
MIN	Mineral Resources.	35.72	-3%	9%	-35%	-32%	$7,184,720,162
GRE	Greentechmetals	0.067	-3%	-7%	-52%	-76%	$7,513,546
COB	Cobalt Blue Ltd	0.065	-3%	-4%	-20%	-70%	$27,916,084
GAL	Galileo Mining Ltd	0.15	-3%	36%	-14%	-32%	$29,643,739
HRE	Heavy Rare Earths	0.03	-3%	0%	4%	-40%	$6,241,016
IG6	Internationalgraphit	0.058	-3%	45%	-33%	-61%	$10,839,266
BC8	Black Cat Syndicate	0.705	-3%	18%	101%	220%	$421,879,575
PLL	Piedmont Lithium Inc	0.13	-4%	-10%	-24%	-51%	$84,612,303
ARU	Arafura Rare Earths	0.13	-4%	18%	-32%	-7%	$320,362,730
SGQ	St George Min Ltd	0.025	-4%	0%	-24%	-19%	$33,440,592
LLI	Loyal Lithium Ltd	0.095	-4%	-4%	-24%	-64%	$9,569,641
GED	Golden Deeps	0.023	-4%	-4%	-32%	-43%	$3,485,014
CNB	Carnaby Resource Ltd	0.345	-4%	-1%	-34%	-50%	$75,222,545
OMH	OM Holdings Limited	0.345	-4%	-1%	-22%	-30%	$264,358,596
DVP	Develop Global Ltd	2.27	-4%	7%	16%	14%	$640,989,346
HAS	Hastings Tech Met	0.33	-4%	6%	0%	-46%	$58,950,494
IPT	Impact Minerals	0.011	-4%	10%	-27%	-8%	$33,653,771
SLM	Solismineralsltd	0.065	-4%	-11%	-58%	-48%	$5,019,809
AM7	Arcadia Minerals	0.02	-5%	5%	-47%	-71%	$2,347,669
ASL	Andean Silver	0.97	-5%	18%	26%	385%	$152,422,805
PGM	Platina Resources	0.019	-5%	6%	-24%	-5%	$11,840,426
S2R	S2 Resources	0.076	-5%	13%	-39%	-46%	$35,322,923
REC	Rechargemetals	0.019	-5%	0%	-39%	-76%	$4,873,309
GT1	Greentechnology	0.065	-5%	23%	-7%	-62%	$25,268,886
KFM	Kingfisher Mining	0.037	-5%	-8%	-43%	-72%	$1,987,455
DYM	Dynamicmetalslimited	0.275	-5%	0%	104%	83%	$13,470,875
BKT	Black Rock Mining	0.034	-6%	3%	-43%	-51%	$42,569,652
PUR	Pursuit Minerals	0.082	-6%	-22%	-45%	-77%	$6,770,518
LYC	Lynas Rare Earths	6.635	-6%	5%	10%	13%	$6,337,389,294
A8G	Australasian Metals	0.075	-6%	-4%	7%	-50%	$4,341,729
LSR	Lodestar Minerals	0.014	-7%	-13%	-30%	-71%	$2,904,255
NWM	Norwest Minerals	0.014	-7%	-22%	-59%	-44%	$7,276,793
MEI	Meteoric Resources	0.084	-7%	-2%	-35%	-58%	$198,046,199
VHM	Vhmlimited	0.34	-7%	-21%	-37%	-43%	$64,938,089
ITM	Itech Minerals Ltd	0.054	-7%	6%	-28%	-43%	$9,395,946
CAE	Cannindah Resources	0.039	-7%	-3%	-29%	-56%	$29,123,198
SRI	Sipa Resources Ltd	0.013	-7%	-7%	-24%	-48%	$3,845,922
MQR	Marquee Resource Ltd	0.013	-7%	-13%	18%	-43%	$5,412,997
SUM	Summitminerals	0.13	-7%	4%	-40%	38%	$11,326,638
RAS	Ragusa Minerals Ltd	0.012	-8%	0%	-25%	-66%	$1,711,185
FTL	Firetail Resources	0.072	-8%	-10%	-3%	24%	$23,870,014
IPX	Iperionx Limited	4.14	-8%	-10%	91%	157%	$1,310,761,929
GLN	Galan Lithium Ltd	0.115	-8%	-4%	-24%	-77%	$93,266,074
CRR	Critical Resources	0.0055	-8%	-8%	-35%	-66%	$12,159,816
WC1	Westcobarmetals	0.022	-8%	47%	-28%	-65%	$3,870,073
KNI	Kunikolimited	0.165	-8%	-8%	-18%	-34%	$14,316,929
PMT	Patriotbatterymetals	0.36	-9%	-6%	-29%	-50%	$211,667,336
ASN	Anson Resources Ltd	0.061	-9%	11%	-49%	-38%	$84,463,846
FRS	Forrestaniaresources	0.01	-9%	-23%	-71%	-66%	$2,439,635
1AE	Auroraenergymetals	0.06	-9%	28%	-6%	-57%	$10,743,824
ANX	Anax Metals Ltd	0.01	-9%	-17%	-60%	-57%	$8,764,517
ETM	Energy Transition	0.088	-9%	175%	319%	126%	$123,966,364
TAR	Taruga Minerals	0.009	-10%	-10%	13%	13%	$6,354,241
AR3	Austrare	0.089	-10%	-9%	-6%	-36%	$14,150,086
FGR	First Graphene Ltd	0.053	-10%	96%	2%	-16%	$38,499,423
BSX	Blackstone Ltd	0.026	-10%	-4%	-35%	-58%	$15,469,922
NWC	New World Resources	0.017	-11%	0%	-41%	-56%	$48,284,789
FG1	Flynngold	0.025	-11%	-9%	-11%	-52%	$6,532,912
RMX	Red Mount Min Ltd	0.008	-11%	-11%	-20%	-70%	$3,719,662
G88	Golden Mile Res Ltd	0.008	-11%	0%	-27%	-47%	$3,309,760
PVT	Pivotal Metals Ltd	0.008	-11%	0%	-62%	-60%	$7,257,807
MHC	Manhattan Corp Ltd	0.024	-11%	14%	-4%	-68%	$5,637,574
ILU	Iluka Resources	4.725	-12%	-2%	-23%	-27%	$2,119,834,208
AZI	Altamin Limited	0.022	-12%	5%	-38%	-60%	$12,639,064
VUL	Vulcan Energy	5.45	-12%	2%	33%	175%	$1,236,712,551
GSM	Golden State Mining	0.007	-13%	-13%	-36%	-30%	$2,234,965
ICL	Iceni Gold	0.069	-13%	10%	6%	41%	$21,551,984
RBX	Resource B	0.032	-14%	-11%	-20%	-57%	$4,031,457
DLI	Delta Lithium	0.175	-15%	0%	-24%	-34%	$121,812,105
1MC	Morella Corporation	0.023	-15%	-18%	-47%	-77%	$7,596,107
NVX	Novonix Limited	0.585	-15%	-9%	-15%	6%	$379,717,058
AZL	Arizona Lithium Ltd	0.011	-15%	-8%	-45%	-54%	$52,460,867
DM1	Desert Metals	0.022	-15%	-8%	-21%	-37%	$5,883,365
MRD	Mount Ridley Mines	0.0025	-17%	-17%	-75%	-88%	$1,946,223
LML	Lincoln Minerals	0.005	-17%	0%	-17%	0%	$9,253,168
PAT	Patriot Lithium	0.044	-17%	2%	-6%	-69%	$5,562,390
EV1	Evolutionenergy	0.018	-18%	-25%	-44%	-87%	$7,253,010
GW1	Greenwing Resources	0.035	-20%	3%	-30%	-68%	$8,422,802
CTN	Catalina Resources	0.003	-25%	0%	0%	0%	$3,731,286
OB1	Orbminco Limited	0.0015	-25%	-25%	-50%	-81%	$4,333,180
RGL	Riversgold	0.003	-25%	0%	-57%	-67%	$5,051,138
ADD	Adavale Resource Ltd	0.002	-33%	-20%	-50%	-75%	$4,622,496
CDT	Castle Minerals	0.002	-33%	-20%	-50%	-71%	$3,793,628
RIL	Redivium Limited	0.0025	-38%	-38%	100%	-33%	$8,505,889
TKL	Traka Resources	0.001	-50%	0%	-50%	-50%	$2,125,790

Weekly Small Cap Standouts

Critica (ASX:CRI)

WA clay rare earth explorer Critica says first pass metallurgical testwork at its Jupiter project – part of the Brothers clay-hosted rare earths project in WA - has delivered an 830% rare earths upgrade.

The upgrade was achieved by subjecting a composite sample of Jupiter of representative mineralisation to a simple flotation process at ambient (room) temperature to produce a beneficiated product grading 13,310 ppm (or 1.331%) TREO.

Managing director Philippa Leggat said the results deliver a near ten-fold increase in grade through a simple flotation at ambient temperature.

“Combined with impressive unoptimised first-pass rare earth recoveries of over 50%, these results have hugely exceeded our initial beneficiation ambitions,” she said.

Going forwards, the plan is to build a strong foundation of robust geological and metallurgical data via rigorous technical work, targeting the establishment and derisking of a valuable, intergenerational development opportunity.

“The maiden mineral resource estimate for Jupiter is presently in the advanced stages of preparation, driven by leading geological house, SRK Consulting,” Leggat said.

“We look forward to its completion and release in coming weeks.”

ioneer (ASX:INR)

On Monday the company closed a US$996 million ($1.6bn) loan, including US$968m in principal and US$28m of capitalised interest, a US$268m mark up from a conditional loan announced for its Rhyolite Ridge project in Nevada’s Esmeralda County.

It came amid a last minute race from the Biden Administration to get grants and loan agreements signed off ahead of the inauguration of President Trump.

Earmarked as America’s first new lithium mine in six decades and first new boron operation in almost a century, the project received its federal permit in October 2024.

First product is targeted for 2028, with a final investment decision and conclusion of the conditional agreement that would give PGE producer Sibanye-Stillwater a 50% share of the project for US$490m in project funding still to come.

The latter is a condition precedent to receiving the first funding from the loan. Ioneer intends to finalise a new update to its resource and reserve at Rhyolite Ridge, as well as financial estimates for the project.

Centaurus Metals (ASX:CTM)

The company has reported ‘outstanding’ results from the process flowsheet refinement undertaken as part of the Jaguar Value Engineering Process (JVEP) for its flagship nickel project in Brazil, with recent pilot plant work demonstrating that it will be able to produce, what is expected to be, the highest grade nickel concentrate available anywhere in the global market.

The ability to produce such a high-quality concentrate is due to the ore at Jaguar being millerite-rich – one of the highest tenor nickel sulphides.

The key advantage in producing this high-quality concentrate is the reduction in the volume of nickel concentrate required to be shipped to customers, with significant economic benefits flowing to Centaurus from reduced logistic costs of around US275m based on the 2024 feasibility study.

Samples of this product have now been prepared and are available to assist the strategic partnering and off-take process.

Eastern Resources (ASX:EFE)

The company says floatation tests on high-grade samples from its Lepidolite Hill project near Coolgardie showed it could achieve 80.5% lithia recoveries reporting to a 3.75% Li2O concentrate.

A lepidolite and petalite mine in the early 1970s, Lepidolite Hill is located 18km south-southwest of Coolgardie and 32km west of the Mt Marion lithium mine.

Lepidolite doesn’t have the best name in Australia, largely associated with lower-grade deposits in China and Africa eating into Australia’s spodumene producers’ share of the lithium market.

EFE said the tests showed samples also contained a low level of contaminants at 0.07% iron oxide.

Element 25 (ASX:E25)

E25 has announced a 107% increase in ore reserves at its Butcherbird manganese project in WA, to 101.4Mt at 10.4%Mn for 10.54Mt contained manganese.

The Butcherbird mine produced high-quality manganese concentrate while in operation for nearly three years, up until early 2024.

Operations are currently temporarily suspended while E25 develops an expanded processing facility to increase mine production to a nominal 1.1Mt per annum of concentrate.

This reserve update is based on the Yanneri Ridge and Coodamudgi deposits (of a total of eight at the project).

The life of mine has also increased to 18.3 years at the proposed 1.1Mt annual production rate.

The plan is to sell into the manganese alloy market, as well supplying feedstock for the company’s planned high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) refinery in Louisiana, USA, which is being developed in partnership with General Motors and Stellantis to supply low carbon critical battery raw materials to the electric vehicles industry.

Earlier this week the company also announced it had been awarded a US$166m ($268m) grant to support the plants construction, backed by a further US$115m ($185m) in funding from General Motors and Stellantis, with the project set to begin by the start of April.

Originally published as High Voltage: Trump throws out EV mandate in lithium blow, but US rare earths still on agenda