At time of writing the Lithium Australia NL [ASX:LIT] share price is up more than 18%, trading at 16 cents.
For investors, 2021 may be remembered as the year where the LIT share price made good on its promise:
Source: Tradingview.com
The LIT share price is up more than 170% in a 12-month window, we look at the latest patent announcement and the outlook for the LIT share price.
US patent expands LIT’s IP portfolio
Today’s update included the following key points:
‘SiLeach® patent application granted by US Patent and Trademark Office.
‘SiLeach® patent application accepted by IP Australia.
‘SiLeach® patent application claims considered allowable by European Patent Office.
‘SiLeach®, which provides for low-energy recovery of lithium from micas, is potentially a short-cut in the production of lithium-ion batteries.’
In a reasonably in-depth announcement, the company profiled how it is working on expanding its IP portfolio in a variety of jurisdictions.
It’s great to have the technology, but if it’s not patented then it’s much harder to profit from it.
LIT has expressed on numerous occasions how it is targeting next-generation lithium-ion batteries called LFP batteries.
LFP stands for lithium ferrophosphate, and Tesla is focusing on these to accelerate mass adoption of EVs.
These batteries are not without their teething issues and charging times and lifespan have been called into question on some outlets.
Outlook for LIT share price
It’s a familiar chart for those watching the small-cap space.
A massive breakout after a prolonged sideways move, and then a whipsawing retracement.
A quick look at their most recent quarterly reveals a cash balance of $13 million as at January of this year.
Relative to its market cap, this gives the LIT share price a bit of support despite the prospect of future pullbacks should wider market forces lead to investors wanting to cash up again.
Thinking about operational cash, it went through just over $1.7 million. So again, a fair bit of leeway there as well.
If you’re really into lithium stocks, it’s definitely worth checking out our lithium 2021 report.
It includes a small ASX-listed company you might not have heard of before with operations based in Europe.
You can download that for free, right here.
Regards,
Lachlann Tierney,
For Money Morning
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