Corazon Mining (CZN:AU) has announced Completes Two Pools Gold acquisition
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Carbonxt Group (CG1:AU) has announced Convertible Note and Placement
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It’s been yet another historic week for gold and silver, with both setting new price records.
The yellow metal broke through US$4,200 per ounce and then continued on past US$4,300. It rose as high as US$4,374.43 on Thursday (October 16), putting its year-to-date gain at about 67 percent.
Meanwhile, silver passed US$54 per ounce and is now up around 84 percent since 2025’s start.
Gold’s underlying price drivers are no secret — factors like central bank buying and waning trust in fiat currencies have been major themes in recent years, and they continue to provide support.
But it’s worth looking at a number of other elements currently in play.
Among them are a resurgence in the US-China trade war, which has ramped up geopolitical tensions, and the ongoing American government shutdown. The closure has stalled the release of key economic data ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next meeting later this month.
There have also been troubles at two regional banks in the US — they say they were the victims of fraud on loans to funds that invest in distressed commercial mortgages. Aside from that, Rich Checkan of Asset Strategies International sees western investors entering the market.
‘We don’t have a tidal wave or a tsunami by any stretch of the imagination, but the western investor is getting back into this,’ he said, noting that for the past few years his company has mostly been selling to high-net-worth individuals and people looking for deals. ‘Now we’re having flat-out sales.’
Checkan also weighed in on where gold is at in the current cycle, saying the indicators he tracks — including the gold-silver ratio, interest rates and the US dollar — don’t point to a top.
‘They can take a breather, there’s no question about that — you almost kind of want them to. But the reality is, there’s no top in sight,’ he said. ‘I’ve got about, I don’t know, seven, eight, nine different indicators I look at for the top in a bull market for gold. None of them are firing.’
When it comes to silver, the situation is a little more complicated.
Vince Lanci of Echobay Partners explained that the London silver market is facing a liquidity crisis — while there’s not a shortage of the metal, it isn’t in the right place, and that’s creating a squeeze.
Here’s what he said:
‘London, when it needs metal, is having a hard time getting it from Asia, because China is not cooperating with the west — for good reason in their mind. And for some reason, the US is not making its metal available as robustly as it used to, to help fill refill London’s coffers. And so that creates a short squeeze.
‘There’s enough metal in the world for current needs — let’s say for today’s needs. But it’s not where it should be. So it’s a dislocation.’
Lanci, who is also a professor at the University of Connecticut and publisher of the GoldFix newsletter on Substack, also made the point that although these circumstances are front and center now, they’re just one part of the larger ongoing bull market for silver. In his view, its growing status as a critical mineral will have major implications, and a triple-digit price is realistic.
Arcadia Economics interview
As a final point, I was recently interviewed by Chris Marcus of Arcadia Economics.
It was fun being on the other side of the camera for a change, and I have a new appreciation for everyone who sits down to answer my questions. Check out the interview below.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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A teenage street musician has been jailed and charged with leading a public gathering in which she led a crowd in singing an anti-Putin rock song in St. Petersburg, a rare act of defiance, according to local reports.
Diana Loginova faces a single administrative charge for organizing an unauthorized public gathering and has been jailed for 13 days, The Moscow Times reported.
After serving her sentence, Loginova will face an additional administrative offense of ‘discrediting’ the Russian military, Reuters reported.
Loginova, who performs under the name Naoko with the band Stoptime, was arrested Tuesday after being filmed earlier leading a crowd in singing the lyrics to exiled rapper Noize MC’s hit song ‘Swan Lake Cooperative.’
Noize MC, the musician who wrote ‘Swan Lake Cooperative,’ is openly critical of the Kremlin and left Russia for Lithuania after the start of the war in Ukraine.
For its part, Moscow has added him to its list of ‘foreign agents,’ which includes hundreds of individuals and entities accused of conducting subversive activities with support from abroad, Reuters reported.
The song doesn’t reference Russian President Vladimir Putin or mention the war in Ukraine. It is a reference to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, which was played on television after the deaths of Soviet leaders and during the 1991 coup attempt against President Mikhail Gorbachev.
In May, a St. Petersburg court banned the song on grounds it ‘may contain signs of justification and excuse for hostile, hateful attitudes towards people, as well as statements promoting violent changes to the foundations of the constitutional order.’
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A video shared on X shows Erika Kirk at the Turning Point USA office surrounded by staff members, proudly showing them the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to her late husband, Charlie Kirk.
In the clip posted by Mikey McCoy, Charlie Kirk’s former chief of staff, Erika speaks movingly to the assembled team.
In the clip, she can be heard saying, ‘I wanted you guys all to see the Medal of Freedom and be able to look at it and the back of it.’
‘You guys are all part of the legacy. Thank you,’ she says warmly.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the U.S. It was awarded posthumously to Charlie Kirk by President Donald Trump on Oct. 14, 2025, a date that would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday.
Erika accepted the award on her husband’s behalf at a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House. She also delivered remarks highlighting her husband’s beliefs and sacrifice.
Charlie Kirk was assassinated on September 10, 2025, while speaking at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley State University in Orem, Utah.
Following her husband’s death, Erika was unanimously appointed CEO and chair of Turning Point USA’s board.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., believed that Senate Democrats were ‘in a bad place’ after they tanked Republicans’ push to consider the annual defense spending bill on Friday.
Thune argued during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital that Democrats’ decision to vote against the procedural exercise seemed like ‘an extreme measure, and I think it’s coming from a very dysfunctional place right now.’
‘I think there’s a ton of dysfunction in the Democrat caucus, and I think this [‘No Kings’] rally this weekend is triggering a lot of this,’ he said.
Thune’s move to put the bill on the floor was a multipronged effort. One of the elements was to apply pressure on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus to join Republicans to jump start the government funding process as the shutdown continues to drag on.
Another was to test Democrats’ desire to fund the government on a bipartisan basis — a demand they had made in the weeks leading up to the shutdown.
‘I think the leadership is applying pressure,’ Thune said. ‘They were all being called into Schumer’s office this morning to be browbeaten into voting ‘no’ on the defense appropriations bill, something that most of them, you know, like I said, that should be an 80-plus vote in the Senate.’
To his point, the bill easily glided through committee earlier this year on a 26 to 3 vote, and like a trio of spending bills passed in August, typically would have advanced in the upper chamber on a bipartisan basis.
The bill, which Senate Republicans hoped to use as a vehicle to add more spending bills, would have funded the Pentagon and paid military service members.
But Senate Democrats used a similar argument to block the bill that they’ve used over the last 16 days of the government shutdown in their pursuit of an extension to expiring Obamacare subsidies: they wanted a guarantee on which bills would have been added to the minibus package.
‘What are you — are you gonna go around and talk to people about a hypothetical situation,’ Thune countered. ‘I think, you know, once we’re on the bill, then it makes sense to go do that, have those conversations, which is what we did last time.’
The Senate could get another chance to vote on legislation next week that would pay both the troops and certain federal employees that have to work through the shutdown, but it won’t be the defense funding bill. Instead, it’s legislation from Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and several other Senate Republicans.
As for the torpedoed defense bill, which was the last vote for the week in the Senate, Thune argued that it was emblematic of Senate Democrats being ‘in a place where the far-left is the tail wagging the dog.’
‘And you would think that federal workers, who you know, federal employee unions, public employee unions, who Democrats [count] as generally part of their constituency, right now, they’re way more concerned about what Moveon.org and Indivisible, and some of those groups are saying about them, evidently, than what some of their constituents here are saying,’ he said.
‘Because there’s going to be people who are going to start missing paychecks, and this thing gets real pretty fast,’ he continued.
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In theory, this should be a moment of vindication for the Free Palestine movement. A ceasefire holds. Israel has pulled back troops. International headlines finally reflect what activists have shouted for months: that Gaza’s suffering matters.
And yet, the plazas are still. The hashtags have gone dormant. The chants that once shook campuses have faded into uneasy silence.
Why?
Many activists can’t celebrate because celebration feels like surrender.
Behavioral science has some explanations. First, there’s cognitive dissonance at play. When the suffering that fueled your cause suddenly ends, any gesture toward happiness feels obscene. They still see bombed hospitals and displaced families. To cheer would feel like betrayal – not of Israel, but of grief itself.
Second, social identity theory tells us people bond most tightly when facing a common enemy. But when the enemy momentarily recedes, cohesion falters. You can see it in activist networks now debating purity tests and political hierarchies: who’s really anti-colonial, who’s performative. The silence isn’t apathy; it’s fragmentation.
And then there’s the matter of trust. The Free Palestine movement’s emotional currency is their perceived moral authenticity. That’s why President Donald Trump, despite questioning aid to Israel, gains no credit here. Even if he were to deliver every demand the Free Palestine movement has ever made – an end to occupation, full recognition, humanitarian aid – he would get no credit.
To them, he is not a messenger; he is a metaphor. His name evokes everything they stand against: nationalism, hierarchy, cruelty disguised as strength. Their ears are hardened not by indifference, but by identity. When a message comes from a symbol of what you despise, its meaning dies on arrival. That’s not hypocrisy – it’s human nature. We hear only what affirms who we are. What remains is a vacuum of feeling – neither victory nor defeat, just unresolved tension.
For many, that tension is unbearable, so silence becomes self-protection. But silence has a cost.
A movement that cannot speak when conditions improve loses moral clarity. If the world only hears you when you’re angry, it stops listening when you’re right. The tragedy of the Free Palestine silence is not hypocrisy; it’s heartbreak. It reveals how thoroughly moral identity has replaced moral imagination.
To move forward, supporters must learn to celebrate small mercies without mistaking them for betrayal – to see progress not as perfection, but as proof that pain is finally being heard. Until then, the quiet will continue. Not because there’s nothing to say, but because joy, after so much rage, feels foreign on the tongue.
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House Republicans in battleground districts appear to be closing ranks as GOP leaders dig in on their government shutdown strategy, while the fiscal standoff shows no signs of slowing.
Eight House GOP lawmakers whose seats are being targeted by Democrats in 2026 spoke with Fox News Digital this week. And while some shared individual concerns, they were largely united in agreeing with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., that Republicans should not renegotiate their federal funding proposal — and were confident that Americans are behind them.
‘The more people understand the math inside of the Senate, the more I would say Republicans are winning,’ said Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., who defeated a moderate Democrat for his seat last year.
Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., who also flipped her seat from blue to red, argued the results of the 2024 election show Americans ‘can see through a lot of the games that the Democrats have been playing.’
‘We’ve gotten to work with the demands of the American voters, and Democrats are still in disarray,’ she said.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., said, ‘It’s a simple math problem. And the Democrat Party grossly underestimated the American public’s ability to understand math.’
For a House GOP conference that’s been plagued by historic levels of division in recent history — particularly over the issue of government funding — it has shown a notable display of unity amid the shutdown, with few exceptions.
The shutdown is poised to roll into next week after most Senate Democrats voted to block the GOP’s bill for a tenth time.
Republicans put forward last month a seven-week extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding levels, called a continuing resolution (CR), aimed at giving congressional negotiators more time to strike a long-term deal for FY2026.
But Democrats in the House and Senate were infuriated by being sidelined in those talks. The majority of Democrats are refusing to accept any deal that does not include serious healthcare concessions, at least extending COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year.
Several vulnerable Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital pointed out they’re in favor of extending the Obamacare subsidies as well. Indeed, a majority of them are backers of a bipartisan bill to extend them for one year, led by Kiggans.
‘I think we would actually prefer to have … longer term than one year,’ said Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa.
But Mackenzie also pointed out that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., criticized the one-year bill, adding, ‘He already said ‘Absolutely not,’ so I don’t even know what their position is and what they’re asking for.’
Jeffries walked those comments back somewhat a day later, telling reporters that Democrats were willing to look at any good-faith offer.
Kiggans told Fox News Digital, ‘I care about that issue, certainly, you know, I had introduced that [Affordable Care Act] premium tax cuts extension.’
She added that Obamacare, formally called the ACA, and reopening the government are ‘two different issues, though’ that should be discussed separately.
The House Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital, while largely supportive of discussing Obamacare subsidy reforms and extensions, were united in refusing to entertain Democrats’ demands to come back to the negotiating table on federal funding. All maintained, in some form, that the House did its job in passing the CR on Sept. 19.
‘We have a clean CR that would fund all of the programs — all of the federal employees, keep everything up and running through Nov. 21st, so that we can finalize FY2026 appropriations and address issues like healthcare. But you don’t do it at the barrel of a gun,’ said Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.
Lawler is one of three House Republicans who won in a district that President Donald Trump lost in 2024.
‘I think what the Democrats are doing here is creating a mess for the American people. And they’re not actually solving any of the problems,’ he said.
Mackenzie said, ‘It was a seven-week continuing resolution so that we could have time to have policy discussions on other issues that did need to be wrapped up by the end of the year. And we were on track to do that. And I think [Democrats] totally blew that process up.’
‘This is an unprecedented thing that Senate Democrats are doing, trying to add policy programs into the new continuity of funding bill,’ Rep. Tom Kean, R-N.J., the most vulnerable Republican in the Garden State, also said.
Both Lawler and Rep. Dave Valadao, R-Calif., warned that giving up a policy rider-free spending bill in favor of inserting partisan demands would create an unworkable new standard.
‘Holding the government office is never a good strategy. And if it becomes a successful way of negotiating … it’ll set a bad precedent for governing moving forward,’ Valadao said. ‘So this is an absolute no-go, should never be successful.’
Lawler said, ‘The reality is, the moment you start giving in on a clean CR and start giving in to demands, this will continue in perpetuity. Every time there’s a government funding lapse, you’ll have a group of people demanding something, and it will turn into a fiasco.’
Several of the battleground Republicans also praised Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., in the process.
Valadao told Fox News Digital, ‘I think they’re doing a good job. At least all the calls I’ve been on, the conversations I’ve had with my colleagues and, again, folks in the district, they all seem pretty confident that we’re doing the right thing.’
Lawler said Johnson had ‘handled it well,’ while Bresnahan said, ‘I would say, at least with members, they’re, you know, keeping very fluid conversations. We have daily or at least biweekly calls here as to what the messaging needs to be and what the conversations are.’
But there has been some dissent within the House GOP as the shutdown drags on.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has criticized House Republican leaders for not announcing a plan on extending the Obamacare subsidies.
And Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., publicly ripped Johnson’s decision to keep the House out of session while the Senate considers the CR.
‘It is absolutely unacceptable to me and I think only serves further distrust,’ Kiley told MSNBC on Wednesday.
Notably, not all battleground House Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital directly backed Johnson’s move — but none explicitly condemned it, either, and most blamed Senate Democrats for the holdup.
‘I’m kind of torn on that, because to come back and just be a part of the gimmicks that you see going on right now is not helpful,’ Valadao said. ‘Holding the government hostage is what’s the problem here.’
Kiggans, who said she’s lobbying for the House to vote on a standalone bill to pay both active duty and civilian members of the military, said, ‘I think we all want to get back to work. We know that we have work to do, but the ball’s in the court of the Senate Democrats and Chuck Schumer.’
Others more directly backed the move, however.
Kean told Fox News Digital that his staff were still busy in D.C. and in New Jersey trying to help constituents navigate the shutdown and other matters.
‘Any chance we can get back to our district, it’s always important that we listen to our constituents and hear their concerns,’ Kean said. ‘Right now, I 100% support the decision.’
Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, said it was ‘the right move.’
‘We should be with our district. I’m keeping all my district offices open despite nobody getting paid,’ Nunn said. ‘Coming back and having a theatrical debate is less effective than having a real conversation about how to get the government back open.’
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For a long time, most of the world’s lithium was produced by an oligopoly of US-listed producers. However, the sector has transformed significantly in recent years.
Interested investors should cast a wider net to look at global companies — in particular those listed in Australia and China, as companies in both countries have become major players in the industry.
While Australia has long been a top-producing country when it comes to lithium, China has risen quickly to become not only the top lithium processor and refiner, but also a major miner of the commodity. In fact, China was the third largest lithium-producing country in 2024 in terms of mine production, behind Australia and Chile.
Chinese companies are mining in other countries as well, including top producer Australia, where a few are part of major lithium joint ventures. For example, Australia’s largest lithium mine, Greenbushes, is owned and operated by Talison Lithium, which is 51 percent controlled by Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia, a joint venture between China’s Tianqi Lithium (SZSE:002466,HKEX:9696) and Australia’s IGO (ASX:IGO,OTC Pink:IPDGF). The remaining 49 percent stake in Talison is owned by Albemarle (NYSE:ALB). Joint ventures can offer investors different ways to get exposure to mines and jurisdictions.
Mergers and acquisitions are common in the lithium space, with the biggest news in the industry recently being Rio Tinto’s (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO) acquisition of Arcadium Lithium for US$6.7 billion in March of this year. The acquisition transforms Rio Tinto into a global leader in lithium production with one of the world’s largest lithium resource bases.
As for Chile, the country’s lithium landscape is changing following the December 2024 announcement that, as a part of its National Lithium Strategy toward public-private partnerships, the government opened up the process of assigning special lithium operation contracts to a total of 12 priority areas.
All in all, lithium investors have a lot to keep an eye on as the space continues to shift. Read on for an overview of the current top lithium-producing firms by market cap. Data was current as of October 1, 2025.
Biggest lithium-mining stocks
1. Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO)
Market cap: US$112.17 billion
Share price: AU$122.58
Rio Tinto, a global powerhouse in the resource sector for decades, is mostly known for its iron and copper production. However, in recent years, the mining giant has been expanding its position in the world’s lithium market.
In March 2025, the company cemented its position as one of the biggest lithium-producing companies in the world with the US$6.7 billion all-cash acquisition of Arcadium Lithium, the lithium giant formed after the US$10.6 billion merger of lithium majors Allkem and Livent.
Rio Tinto is consolidating Arcadium’s assets with its own under a new unit called Rio Tinto Lithium, adding brine operations at Salar del Hombre Muerto and Olaroz in Argentina, as well as the Mount Cattlin hard-rock mine in Australia, which entered care and maintenance in March of this year. Arcadium also brings lithium hydroxide capacity in the US, Japan and China.
At the time, Rio Tinto said the acquisition will increase its lithium carbonate equivalent production capacity to over 200,000 metric tons (MT) annually by 2028.
The move follows Rio Tinto’s 2022 acquisition of Argentina’s Rincon project, where a 3,000 MT per year pilot battery-grade carbonate plant entered production in November 2024. Construction for the 60,000 MT expanded plant begins in Q4 2025, with first production expected in 2028.
In May 2025, Rio Tinto strengthened its South American lithium portfolio through a joint venture deal with Chile’s state miner Codelco to develop the high-grade Salar de Maricunga lithium project in Chile’s Atacama Region.
The deal gives Rio Tinto a 49.99 percent stake in exchange for up to US$900 million in staged investments, including US$350 million for studies and development, US$500 million toward construction, and an additional US$50 million if production begins by 2030.
In another deal focused on the Atacama Region, in July Rio Tinto penned a binding agreement with state-owned Empresa Nacional de Minería (ENAMI) to form a joint venture for the Salares Altoandinos lithium project. Under the deal, Rio Tinto will take a 51 percent stake and invest up to US$425 million in cash and technology contributions, including its direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology.
2. Ganfeng Lithium (OTC Pink:GNENF,SZSE:002460,HKEX:1772)
Market cap: US$14.79 billion
Share price: US$5.47
Founded in 2000 and listed in 2010, Ganfeng Lithium has operations across the entire electric vehicle battery supply chain. Even though it is relatively new compared to some companies on the list, Ganfeng has become one of the world’s largest producers of both lithium metals and lithium hydroxide. This is due to its strategy of investing heavily in overseas projects to secure long-term lithium resources, with its first such investment in 2014.
Ganfeng Lithium holds a global lithium portfolio including operations in Argentina, Australia, China, Mexico and Mali.
In Argentina, the company has a 51 percent stake in the Caucharí-Olaroz lithium brine operation with Lithium Argentina (TSX:LAR,NYSE:LAR). Additionally, Ganfeng brought its US$790 million Mariana project in Argentina into production in February of this year. The Mariana mine is situated on the Llullaillaco salt flat, and has the capacity to produce 20,000 MT of lithium chloride per year. The company also owns LitheA, which controls two lithium salt lakes in Argentina’s Salta province.
Ganfeng executed a 67/33 joint venture with Lithium Argentina in August 2025 that will consolidate Ganfeng’s Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes project with Lithium Argentina’s Pastos Grandes and Sal de la Puna projects. The merged operation, representing US$1.8 billion in existing investments, aims to produce up to 150,000 MT per year of lithium carbonate equivalent through a three phase development approach that will employ DLE and solar evaporation.
In Mali, Ganfeng operates the Goulamina lithium mine, which entered production in December 2024. Goulamina has a mine capacity of 506,000 MT of spodumene per year, and Ganfeng’s goal is to double that capacity to 1 million MT per year. The Malian government holds a 35 percent stake in Goulamina and Ganfeng holds the remaining 65 percent after purchasing joint venture partner Leo Lithium’s (ASX:LLL,OTC Pink:LLLAF) interest.
Ganfeng has a controlling interest in Mexico-focused Bacanora Lithium and its Sonora lithium project, as well as a 49 percent stake in a salt lake project in China owned by China Minmetals. It also holds a non-operating 50 percent interest in the Mount Marion mine in Western Australia through its 50/50 joint venture with Mineral Resources.
On the sales side, Ganfeng has supply deals with companies such as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), BMW (OTC Pink:BMWYY,ETR:BMW), Korean battery maker LG Chem (KRX:051910), Volkswagen (OTC Pink:VLKAF,FWB:VOW) and Hyundai (KRX:005380).
3. SQM (NYSE:SQM)
Market cap: US$12.05 billion
Share price: US$44.20
SQM has five business areas, ranging from lithium to potassium to specialty plant nutrition. Its primary lithium operations are in Chile, where it is a longtime producer, and it is now also producing lithium in Australia.
In Chile, SQM sources brine from the Salar de Atacama; it then processes lithium chloride from the brine into lithium carbonate and hydroxide at its Salar del Carmen lithium plants located near Antofagasta.
Chile’s aforementioned National Lithium Strategy has created some uncertainty for SQM, but the government has stated that it will respect its current contracts, which run through 2030.
In May 2024, state-owned Codelco and SQM formed a joint venture in which Codelco will hold a 50 percent stake plus one share to give it majority control. As of 2031, the state will begin receiving 85 percent of the operating margin of the new production from SQM’s operations.
Outside South America, SQM operates the Mount Holland lithium mine and concentrator in Australia through Covalent Lithium, a 50/50 joint venture with Wesfarmers (ASX:WES,OTC Pink:WFAFF). In July 2025, Covalent Lithium produced its first battery-grade lithium hydroxide at its Kwinana refinery, and expects to reach nameplate capacity of 50,000 metric tons per year by the end of 2026.
SQM has a long-term supply deal with Hyundai (KRX:005380) and Kia (KRX:000270) to provide lithium hydroxide for electric vehicle batteries from its future lithium hydroxide supply. SQM also has supply agreements with Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and LG Energy (KRX:373220).
4. Tianqi Lithium (OTC Pink:TQLCF,SZSE:002466,HKEX:9696)
Market cap: US$10.8 billion
Share price: 47.57 Chinese yuan
Tianqi Lithium, a subsidiary of Chengdu Tianqi Industry Group, is the world’s largest hard-rock lithium producer. The company has assets in Australia, Chile and China. It holds a significant stake in SQM.
In Australia, Tianqi holds a 51 percent stake of the Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia joint venture with IGO. The joint venture has a 51 percent interest in the Greenbushes mine and wholly owns the Kwinana lithium hydroxide plant.
The world’s largest hard rock lithium mine, Greenbushes entered production in 1985 and now has spodumene concentrate production capacity of 1.5 million MT per year. The joint venture updated the total mineral resources at Greenbushes in February to 440 million MT at an average grade of 1.5 percent lithium oxide, and its total ore reserve estimate to 172 million MT grading 1.9 percent lithium oxide.
The Kwinana lithium hydroxide plant processes lithium spodumene feedstock from Greenbushes. The refinery has struggled to reach its nameplate capacity of 24,000 MT due to technical issues, high costs and more.
Construction work for the Phase 2 expansion at Kwinana, which would have doubled its capacity, was terminated in January 2025 due to the current low-price environment for lithium making it economically unviable.
As of late August, the partners are in discussions about a path forward for the refinery, and Tianqi signaled it is open to renegotiating partner IGO’s 49 percent stake.
Earlier in the year, Tianqi Lithium announced collaborations with a number of academic research institutions including the Institute for Advanced Materials and Technology of the University of Science and Technology Beijing on the research and development of next-generation solid-state battery materials and technology.
5. Albemarle (NYSE:ALB)
Market cap: US$10.5 billion
Share price: US$85.42
North Carolina-based Albemarle is dividing into two primary business units, one of which — the Albemarle Energy Storage unit — is focused wholly on the lithium-ion battery and energy transition markets. It includes the firm’s lithium carbonate, hydroxide and metal production.
Albemarle has a broad portfolio of lithium mines and facilities, with extraction in Chile, Australia and the US, as well as lithium carbonate and hydroxide facilities in China and Taiwan.
Looking first at Chile, Albemarle produces lithium carbonate at its La Negra lithium conversion plants, which process brine from the Salar de Atacama, the country’s largest salt flat. Albemarle is aiming to implement direct lithium extraction technology at the salt flat to reduce water usage.
Albemarle’s Australian assets includes the MARBL joint venture with Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN,OTC Pink:MALRF). The 50/50 JV owns and operates the Wodgina hard-rock lithium mine in Western Australia. Albemarle wholly owns the on-site Kemerton lithium hydroxide facility. The company’s other Australian joint venture is the aforementioned Greenbushes mine, in which it holds a 49 percent interest alongside Tianqi and IGO.
As for the US, Albemarle owns the Silver Peak lithium brine operations in Nevada’s Clayton Valley, which is currently the country’s only source of lithium production. In its home state of North Carolina, Albemarle is planning to bring its past-producing Kings Mountain lithium mine back online, subject to permitting approval and a final investment decision. The mine is expected to produce around 420,000 MT of lithium-bearing spodumene concentrate annually.
Albemarle has received US$150 million in funding from the US government to support the building of a commercial-scale lithium concentrator facility on site. The US Department of Defense has given the company a US$90 million critical materials award to boost its domestic lithium production and support the country’s burgeoning EV battery supply chain.
6. PLS (ASX:PLS,OTC Pink:PILBF)
Market cap: US$5.36 billion
Share price: AU$2.36
PLS, formerly named Pilbara Minerals, operates its 100 percent owned Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum asset in Western Australia. The operation entered commercial production in 2019 and consists of two processing plants: the Pilgan plant, located on the northern side of the Pilgangoora area, which produces a spodumene concentrate and a tantalite concentrate; and the Ngungaju plant, located to the south, which produces a spodumene concentrate.
PLS has recently completed a few critical expansion projects at Pilgangoora. Its P680 expansion, for a primary rejection facility and a crushing and ore-sorting facility, was completed in August 2024. The P1000 expansion, targeting a spodumene production increase at the site to 1 million MT per year, was completed in January 2025 ahead of schedule and within budget. The company says the ramp-up to full capacity is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2025.
PLS and its joint venture partner Calix are developing a midstream demonstration plant at Pilgangoora using Calix’s electric kiln technology to reduce the carbon footprint of spodumene processing, decreasing transport volumes and improving value-add processing at the mine. After garnering a AU$15 million grant from the Western Australian Government, construction of the project is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The company made a move to expand its footprint in Brazil in August 2024 with the acquisition of Latin Resources (ASX:LRS,OTC Pink:LRSRF) and its Salinas lithium project. The project’s resource estimate, which covers the Colina and Fog’s Block deposits, stands at 77.7 million MT at 1.24 percent lithium oxide. The AU$560 million deal was approved by the Western Australia Government in January 2025.
PLS and joint venture partner POSCO (NYSE:PKX) launched South Korea’s first lithium hydroxide processing plant in late 2024, which will be supplied with spodumene from Pilgangoora. PLS also has offtake agreements with companies such as Ganfeng, Chengxin Lithium Group and Yibin Tianyi Lithium Industry.
In May 2025, PLS powered up a new lithium battery energy storage system at its Pilgangoora operation, completing Stage 1 of its power strategy. The system is designed to boost power stability and reliability while reducing intensity of emissions related to power at the site.
7. Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN,OTC Pink:MALRF)
Market cap: US$5.33 billion
Share price: AU$39.58
Australia-based Mineral Resources (MinRes) is a commodities company that mines lithium and iron ore in the country.
Two of MinRes’ lithium mines are joint ventures with other companies on this list. MinRes’s Wodgina mine in Western Australia is operated by the 50/50 MARBL joint venture with Albemarle. MinRes also owns 50 percent of the Mount Marion lithium operation through a joint venture with Ganfeng Lithium.
Production of lithium concentrate began at Mount Marion in 2017, and all mining is managed by MinRes, which also has a 51 percent share of the output from the spodumene concentrator at the site. MinRes completed the expansion of Mount Marion’s spodumene processing plant in 2023. Currently, the plant has an annual production capacity of 600,000 MT spodumene concentrate equivalent.
In August 2024, in light of lithium’s low price environment, MinRes decided to lower production at Mount Marion and Wodgina for the fiscal 2025 year, focusing on improving performance and reducing stripping ratios. Production at Mount Marion ultimately decreased by 21 percent to 514,000 dry MT of spodumene concentrate in its FY2025. On the other hand, it increased by 18 percent to 502,000 dry MT at Wodgina.
MinRes acquired the Bald Hill lithium mine, which is also located in Western Australia, in 2023. The company released an updated mineral resource estimate in November 2024 of 58.1 MT at 0.94 percent lithium oxide, up 168 percent from the prior June 2018 estimate.
In the same news release, MinRes announced that it would have to place the mine on care and maintenance until global lithium prices improve. The final shipment of Bald Hill spodumene concentrate was made in December 2024.
More large lithium mining companies to watch
Aside from the world’s top lithium producers profiled above, a number of other large lithium companies are producing this key electric vehicle raw material, including:
FAQs for investing in lithium
Is lithium a metal?
Lithium is a soft, silver-white metal used in pharmaceuticals, ceramics, grease, lubricants and heat-resistant glass. It’s also used in lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from cell phones to laptops to electric vehicles.
How much lithium is there on Earth?
Lithium is the 33rd most abundant element in nature. According to the US Geological Survey, due to continuing exploration, identified lithium resources have increased to about 115 million metric tons worldwide. Global lithium reserves stand at 30 million MT, with production reaching 240,000 MT in 2024.
How is lithium produced?
Lithium is found in hard-rock deposits, evaporated brines and clay deposits. The largest hard-rock mine is Greenbushes in Australia, and most lithium brine output comes from salars in Chile and Argentina.
There are various types of lithium products, and many different applications for the mineral. After lithium is extracted from a deposit, it is often processed into lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide or lithium metal. Battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide can be used to make cathode material for lithium-ion batteries.
What country produces the most lithium?
The latest data from the US Geological Survey shows that the world’s top lithium-producing countries are Australia, Chile and China, with production reaching 88,000 metric tons, 49,000 metric tons and 41,000 metric tons, respectively.
Global lithium production reached 240,000 metric tons of lithium in 2024, up from 204,000 MT in 2023, according to the US Geological Survey. About 87 percent of the lithium produced currently goes toward battery production, but other industries also consume the metal. For example, 5 percent is used in ceramics and glass, while 2 percent goes to lubricating greases.
Who is the largest miner of lithium?
The world’s largest lithium-producing mine is Talison Lithium and Albemarle’s Greenbushes hard-rock mine in Australia, which produced 1.38 million metric tons of spodumene concentrate in its fiscal year 2024. The top-producing lithium brine operation was SQM’s Salar de Atacama operations in Chile, with 2024 production of 201,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent.
Who are the top lithium consumers?
The top lithium-importing country is China by a long shot, and second place South Korea is another significant importer. China is also the top country for lithium processing, and both are home to many companies producing lithium-ion batteries.
Why is lithium so hard to mine?
The different types of lithium deposits come with their own challenges.
For example, mining pegmatite lithium from hard-rock ore is known for being expensive, while extracting lithium from brines requires vast amounts of water and processing times that can sometimes be as long as 12 months. Lithium mining also comes with the difficulties associated with mining other minerals, such as long exploration and permitting periods.
What are the negative effects of lithium?
Both major forms of lithium mining can have negative effects on the environment. When it comes to hard-rock lithium mining, there have been incidents of chemicals leaking into the water supply and damaging the local ecosystems; in addition, these operations tend to have a large environmental footprint.
As mentioned, lithium brine extraction requires a lot of water for the evaporation process, but it’s hard to understand the scope without numbers. It’s estimated that approximately 2.2 million liters of water are required to produce 1 metric ton of lithium, and that can sometimes mean diverting water from communities that are experiencing drought conditions. This form of lithium extraction also affects the condition of the soil and air.
Will lithium run out?
Although future demand for lithium is expected to keep rising due to its role in green energy, the metal shouldn’t run out any time soon, as companies are continuing to discover new lithium reserves and are developing more advanced extraction technologies. Additionally, there are companies working on technology to recycle battery metals, which will eventually allow lithium from lithium-ion batteries to re-enter the supply chain.
What technology will replace lithium?
Researchers have been working on developing and testing a variety of lithium alternatives for batteries. Some of these options include hydrogen batteries, liquid batteries that could be pumped into vehicles, batteries that replace lithium with sodium or magnesium and even batteries powered by sea water. While nothing looks ready to replace lithium-ion batteries right now, there is potential for more efficient or more environmentally friendly options to grow in popularity in the future.
How to buy a lithium stock?
Investors are starting to pay attention to the green energy transition and the raw materials that will enable it.
When it comes to choosing a stock to invest in, understanding lithium supply and demand dynamics is key, as there are unique factors to watch for in lithium stocks. The main demand driver for lithium is what happens in the electric vehicle industry, which is expected to keep growing, and also the energy storage space. Analysts remain optimistic about the future of lithium, with many predicting the market will be tight for some time.
Investors interested in lithium stocks could consider companies listed on US, Canadian and Australian stock exchanges. They can also check out our guide on what to look for in lithium stocks today.
Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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The gold price continued to rise in Q3, breaking through key milestones to set new all-time highs.
Much like the first half of the year, the yellow metal was supported by ongoing factors like central bank buying, geopolitical tensions and uncertainty caused by US trade and tariff policies.
And it wasn’t just the price of gold that soared — higher margins and a more positive outlook for the sector helped drive increases in gold stocks. Read on for a look at gold’s Q3 activity and the outlook for Q4.
What happened to the gold price in Q3?
Gold has gained nearly US$1,400 since starting the year at US$2,658 per ounce on January 2.
By the beginning of Q3, gold had climbed to US$3,338.86, and it remained rangebound at that level for most of July and August. However, it climbed above the US$3,400 mark on July 22 and then again on August 6.
Gold price, July 9 to October 10, 2025.
The price started to gain traction at the end of August, after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled a change in policy during his remarks at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium. By September 2, the gold price had broken through US$3,500 for the first time, and by September 8 it had climbed above US$3,600.
As the month wore on, gold continued its unprecedented climb. It broke through US$3,700 on September 22, US$3,800 on September 29 and reached its quarterly high of US$3,858.41 on September 30.
The price continued on its upward trajectory as the fourth quarter began, rising above US$3,900 on October 6, and finally setting a new record high of US$4,040.42 on October 8.
What’s driving gold demand?
Although there was a dip in central bank gold purchases in July, with just 10 metric tons added to reserves, the World Gold Council (WGC) reported that the buying trend that has developed over the past few years remains firm.
In August, central banks once again increased their gold acquisitions, purchasing a total of 19 metric tons. Overall, central banks bought 415 metric tons of gold in H1, bringing the 2025 total to 444 metric tons as of the end of August.
Although it appeared to pause its gold buying in August, the National Bank of Poland has been the top purchaser of gold in 2025, adding 67 metric tons. It has vowed to have 20 to 30 percent of its international reserves in gold.
The WGC notes that seven central banks boosted their reserves in August. Kazakhstan was the leading buyer, adding 8 metric tons to its holdings and bringing its year-to-date increase to 32 metric tons. Turkey, Bulgaria, China, Uzbekistan, Ghana, Indonesia and the Czech Republic each added 2 metric tons. Russia was the only seller in August, divesting itself of 3 metric tons of gold; the WGC suggests its reduction was owed to its coin-minting program.
It wasn’t just central banks buying gold. Western investors helped drive record exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows of US$26 billion for the third quarter, with North American markets accounting for US$16.1 billion.
Total assets under management surged to US$472 billion, a 23 percent increase over the second quarter, with holdings rising to 3,838 metric tons, just shy of the 3,929 metric tons recorded in November 2020.
Why are investors interested in gold?
Mind Money CEO Julia Khandoshko suggested that geopolitics is a driving force behind gold’s record-breaking run, noting that tensions are high as the world becomes increasingly divided into “risk” and “stability” zones.
While geopolitics may be a primary factor, it’s far from the only one.
The third quarter saw declining yield curves, a weakening US dollar and a 25 basis point interest rate cut from the Fed in September, all of which added tailwinds to the gold price. Looking forward, the expectation is that the Fed will make further rate cuts before the end of the year, which could further fuel a rising gold price.
‘The history of the last hundred years shows that gold grows confidently at low rates. Combine this with stubborn inflation, and we can say with confidence that it will create more space for gold’s price rise,” Khandoshko stated.
Additionally, there is an expectation that a weaker US dollar will help to keep the price of gold elevated. So far this year, the US Dollar Index has declined 8 percent.
“The US dollar is a critical component to what happens to gold, because gold is denominated in US dollars, so the weaker the US dollar, the stronger the commodity price. What we’re expecting to see over the next 12 to 24 months is continued devaluation of the US dollar, which means gold should continue to be stronger going forward,” he said.
Among the recent drags on the dollar is fear of a prolonged shutdown of the US federal government after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement to continue funding government agencies and employees.
In the aftermath of the shutdown, the US Dollar Index posted its worst week since July. In an October 3 Reuters article, Thierry Wizman, monetary strategist with Macquarie, suggests that a prolonged shutdown could have a significant impact on trust in the federal government and further impact the strength of the greenback.
Gold price forecast for 2025
Hodaly sees the factors behind gold’s price rise remaining in place for the foreseeable future.
“We are expecting this could go much higher, at least 10 to 20 percent higher in the near term,’ he said.
‘Nothing has changed with the demand outlook for gold and the projected weakness of the US dollar, and that’s what’s going to drive the commodity price higher,’ added the executive.
Gold equities are also expected to benefit as the rising price boosts their margins and share prices.
Leading producers such as Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX:AEM,NYSE:AEM), Newmont (NYSE:NEM,ASX:NEM) and Barrick Mining (TSX:ABX,NYSE:B) have seen their share prices rise by over 100 percent in 2025.
The junior space has also been impacted, with PPX Mining (TSXV:PPX,OTC Pink:SNNGF) posting a year-to-date gain of 642 percent as of October 1, and San Lorenzo Gold (TSXV:SLG,OTC Pink:SNLGF) increasing 629 percent.
With gold now trading above US$4,000, the sector could attract renewed interest and offer new opportunities for investors. Those seeking to include gold or gold stocks in their portfolios might consider options ranging from the relative safety of ETFs and established producers to riskier assets at the development or exploration stages.
Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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