Battery Metals Stocks List

Glencore is one of the world's largest cobalt producers, second to CMOC, with most of its reported cobalt output arising as a by-product of the Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) and Mutanda copper-cobalt operations in the DRC, alongside smaller volumes from its Murrin Murrin nickel operation in Australia and its integrated nickel operations in Canada. It produced 36,100 tonnes of cobalt in 2025, down 5% from 38,200 tonnes in 2024, a reduction Glencore attributed to prioritizing copper production over cobalt given the DRC export restrictions.

The DRC suspended cobalt exports in February 2025 and replaced the ban in October 2025 with a quota system capping producer exports at 87,000 tonnes a year for 2026 and 2027. Glencore reported that KCC and Mutanda made no cobalt exports in the fourth quarter of 2025, holding above-quota material as inventory in-country. By the first half of 2026 it was selling into its DRC export quotas, though own-sourced cobalt production fell 46% to 10,200 tonnes as the operations prioritized copper and increasingly held cobalt in solution, deferring the processing and drying into saleable hydroxide for sale at a later date. Its diversified earnings base and marketing operations may provide more resilience to cobalt price and policy swings than a pure play, and Glencore management has argued that the quota system helps rebalance a structurally oversupplied market.

Vale is a Brazilian diversified miner whose earnings are led by iron ore and pellets. Its copper business operates principally through Vale Base Metals and includes Salobo and Sossego in Brazil plus copper recovered from Canadian nickel operations; this is meaningful copper exposure within a much larger multi-commodity group.

The Brazilian copper business consists of two wholly-owned mines: Salobo, a large, long-life copper-gold porphyry deposit whose substantial gold credits (via a streaming agreement with Wheaton Precious Metals) render unit copper costs deeply negative at current gold prices; and Sossego, a smaller copper-gold IOCG deposit nearing the end of its current reserve base, whose life will be extended by the adjacent Bacaba deposit, where construction was 39% complete as of 2Q26 and commissioning was brought forward to Q3 2027 from an original first-half 2028 schedule. Additional copper is recovered as a by-product of nickel processing at Vale's Canadian operations (Sudbury and Voisey's Bay/Long Harbour), though those volumes are reported within VBM's Nickel segment, not the Copper segment.

Copper production was 382 kt in FY2025; a 110-day maintenance shutdown of Sossego's SAG mill was scheduled for August to November 2026. Beyond Bacaba, the growth pipeline includes the Alemão project in Carajás and the longer-dated Hu'u project in Indonesia.

CMOC Group is a Hong Kong- and Shanghai-listed diversified mining company with major copper and cobalt production from Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It also produces molybdenum, tungsten, niobium and phosphate products and operates a global metals-trading business, making its copper exposure material but diversified. A Brazilian gold business — the Aurizona, Fazenda, Santa Luz and RDM mines — was consolidated from January 2026, adding a fourth producing segment.

All of CMOC's copper mining is concentrated in Lualaba Province within the DRC Copperbelt. Both mines produce copper cathode (LME Grade A) via SX-EW, with cobalt hydroxide as a significant by-product, and a Phase 2 expansion of Kisanfu is under construction. CMOC sold its former 80% stake in the Northparkes copper-gold mine in New South Wales, Australia to Evolution Mining in December 2023, making the DRC the exclusive location of its copper output.

CMOC increased copper output from approximately 420,000 tonnes in 2022–23 to 741,100 tonnes in 2025. TFM and KFM have reported resource grades of 2.25% Cu and 1.79% Cu respectively, above the cited global open-pit range of roughly 0.5–0.8% Cu. The primary risk is single-jurisdiction concentration: all copper output is in the DRC, a jurisdiction that suspended CMOC's export permits for seven months (July 2022–April 2023) and imposed a cobalt export quota from February to October 2025. For international investors, CMOC's H shares (3993.HK) on HKEX are the primary access point; A shares (603993.SS) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange are accessible to domestic Chinese investors and qualified foreign investors via Stock Connect.

SQM is a Chile-based producer of lithium chemicals, iodine, specialty plant nutrients and industrial chemicals. Its lithium business extracts brine from the Salar de Atacama and converts it into lithium carbonate and hydroxide at plants near Antofagasta. The group also has Australian hard-rock exposure through its 50% interest in the Mt Holland mine and Kwinana lithium-hydroxide refinery alongside Wesfarmers.

Lithium is one of SQM’s largest businesses, but the company remains diversified through iodine, potassium and nitrate products. In Chile, its core Atacama operations are being reorganized through a long-term partnership with state-owned Codelco under the National Lithium Strategy. That arrangement is central to the future ownership and governance of the business.

Qinghai Salt Lake Industry is a Shenzhen-listed resources company centered on the Qarhan Salt Lake in Qinghai, China. Potassium chloride fertilizer is its largest business, while lithium carbonate recovered from salt-lake brines provides a material but secondary source of revenue. The company reported that potash accounted for roughly two-thirds of FY2024 revenue and lithium carbonate for about 30%, making it a diversified producer rather than a lithium pure-play.

Its lithium operations use brines associated with the Qarhan potash resource and include production through subsidiaries and a venture involving BYD. Following a state-led reorganization completed in December 2024, the company is controlled through the China Minmetals-led China Salt Lake Industrial Group.

Sumitomo Metal Mining is a Tokyo-listed diversified non-ferrous metals group spanning mineral resources, smelting and refining, and advanced materials. Its copper exposure includes interests in overseas mines such as Morenci, Cerro Verde and Quebrada Blanca and domestic copper smelting and refining, alongside substantial nickel, gold and battery-materials businesses.

SMM holds equity stakes in six producing copper mines across four countries: Morenci in Arizona (25%, operated by Freeport-McMoRan), Cerro Verde in Peru (16.8%, also Freeport-operated), Quebrada Blanca in Chile (25%, operated by Teck Resources and in ramp-up), Candelaria and the adjacent Ojos del Salado in Chile's Atacama region (both 16%, Lundin Mining-operated), and Northparkes in Australia (13.3%, operated by Evolution Mining). It also holds a 27.07% interest in the Jinlong Copper smelter in Anhui, China.

On the development side, SMM signed definitive agreements with Rio Tinto in May 2025 for a 30% interest in the Winu copper-gold project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia (Rio Tinto 70%, operator), with total investment of up to $430 million.

Albemarle is a US-based specialty-chemicals group whose Energy Storage segment produces lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide and related materials for battery, mobility, energy-storage and industrial customers. Its lithium platform combines brine resources in Chile and the United States, interests and offtake rights in major Australian hard-rock mines, and chemical-conversion plants in China, Chile and Australia.

The group has exposure to Greenbushes through Talison Lithium and owns 50% of the Wodgina operation with Mineral Resources. Its Australian conversion footprint includes the Kemerton lithium-hydroxide plant, where capacity has been curtailed in response to market conditions, while its Chilean operations include Salar de Atacama brine production and the La Negra conversion complex. Albemarle also retains a substantial bromine-based Specialties business, so its earnings and cash flows are not determined solely by lithium.

PLS Group, formerly Pilbara Minerals, is an Australian lithium producer built around the 100%-owned Pilgangoora hard-rock operation in Western Australia. Pilgangoora mines and processes spodumene ore for sale as concentrate under a mix of long-term offtake and spot arrangements, including a Canmax agreement carrying a US$1,000 price floor. The operation includes the Pilgan plant and the Ngungaju plant, which the company began restarting in July 2026 after a period in care and maintenance.

PLS produced 879,500 tonnes of spodumene concentrate in FY2026. The group also has downstream exposure through a lithium-hydroxide joint venture with POSCO in South Korea. Its completed acquisition of Latin Resources added the Colina hard-rock development project in Brazil, which remains separate from producing Pilgangoora and requires further studies and a development decision.

POSCO Future M is South Korea's largest battery-materials maker and, by its own description, the only Korean company producing both cathode active materials (NCM/NCA) and anode materials (natural and artificial graphite) at scale.

The company had announced about KRW 92 trillion of cumulative cathode contracts by 2023. That total included a KRW 40 trillion, 10-year agreement with Samsung SDI plus contracts with LG Energy Solution and Ultium Cells, the LG-GM joint venture. These are announced contract values, not a current order backlog. Anode agreements include a roughly KRW 671 billion (about $470 million), four-year contract with an unnamed global automaker announced in October 2025 and a KRW 1 trillion artificial-graphite order announced in March 2026.

POSCO Future M also operates the Ultium CAM cathode joint venture with General Motors in Bécancour, Quebec. Its legacy refractories and lime businesses remain profitable but are small relative to battery materials.

Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt is a vertically integrated battery-materials company, spanning copper-cobalt mining in the DRC, nickel-cobalt HPAL operations in Indonesia, and refining and cathode-material manufacturing in China, South Korea and Hungary, where its first cathode-material phase was completed and entered commissioning in 2025. Cobalt products contributed about 6% of revenue in 2025, as nickel intermediates and battery materials have become much larger businesses.

The DRC business supplies crude cobalt hydroxide to Huayou's Chinese refineries, where it is processed into cobalt sulfate and other battery-grade intermediates for cathode production. For FY2025 the company reported record net profit attributable to shareholders of about RMB 6.11 billion, up 47%, on revenue of RMB 81.02 billion, helped by higher cobalt prices and the ramp-up of its Huayue (60%) and Huafei (51%) HPAL projects in Indonesia. DRC export controls have raised cobalt-product prices while also adding feedstock-availability risk for Chinese refiners.

Ganfeng Lithium is a China-based integrated lithium group spanning resource development, chemical conversion, batteries and recycling. It produces lithium carbonate, hydroxide, metal and other compounds for battery and industrial markets, supported by hard-rock and brine interests in China, Africa and Argentina.

The upstream portfolio includes a majority interest in the Goulamina hard-rock project in Mali and interests in Argentine brine assets including Cauchari-Olaroz, Mariana and the Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes district, where a scoping study with Lithium Argentina was released in November 2025. Several operations are held through subsidiaries or joint ventures, so gross project resources and capacities are not wholly attributable to Ganfeng. The company and Lithium Argentina announced plans to combine contiguous Argentine assets in a new joint venture.

Mineral Resources is a diversified Western Australian group operating across mining services, iron ore, lithium and energy. Its lithium business includes operated interests in the Wodgina and Mt Marion hard-rock mines and the wholly owned Bald Hill operation, producing spodumene concentrate for battery-material supply chains. Mining services and iron ore remain large non-lithium businesses and provide a different earnings profile from the group’s commodity interests.

Lithium ownership is divided among joint-venture partners: project output and installed capacity therefore need to be considered separately from Mineral Resources’ attributable share. Bald Hill restarted mining in May 2026 and made its first post-restart shipment in July, while agreements signed with POSCO envisage a sale of interests in selected lithium assets without transferring operating control. As of August 2026, that transaction had been announced but not completed.

Tianqi Lithium is a China-based lithium producer and converter with exposure to hard-rock mining, lithium chemicals and strategic equity investments. Its principal upstream position is held through Talison Lithium, owner of the Greenbushes mine in Western Australia, while a shareholding in SQM adds indirect exposure to Chilean brine production.

The company converts lithium feedstock into carbonate and hydroxide at facilities in China and Australia, including the Kwinana refinery. Much of Tianqi’s resource exposure is held through corporate and joint-venture interests rather than wholly owned mines, so Greenbushes and SQM production is not fully attributable to Tianqi. Lithium remains the group’s defining business, with operating results sensitive to chemical prices, conversion performance and the value of those strategic holdings.

Canmax Technologies is a Shenzhen-listed Chinese manufacturer whose principal lithium exposure comes from converting raw material into battery-grade lithium hydroxide and carbonate for cathode producers. The group entered lithium chemicals from a legacy cleanroom and anti-static-products business and remains diversified outside lithium.

Its conversion platform is centered on Yibin Tianyi Lithium Industry, established with CATL, and is supported by feedstock purchases, offtake arrangements and selected upstream interests. Canmax is primarily a converter rather than a mine operator: its economics depend on the spread between spodumene or other feedstock costs and finished lithium-chemical prices. Upstream investments improve supply access but do not make every associated resource or mine wholly owned by Canmax.

Umicore is a Belgian materials group with battery exposure through its Battery Materials segment, producing cathode active materials (CAM) and precursors (pCAM), primarily high-nickel NMC. It is one of several major non-Chinese CAM producers, alongside names such as POSCO Future M, EcoPro BM, L&F and Sumitomo Metal Mining. The IONWAY joint venture with Volkswagen's PowerCo is its centerpiece European initiative; Umicore contributed about €425 million to it in stages (€250 million in 2025 and €175 million in January 2026). Battery Materials remains under a management “value recovery” plan after EV-demand softness, while the foundation businesses — Catalysis (automotive emissions control) and Recycling (precious-metals refining) — generated most of the €847 million FY2025 adjusted EBITDA (+11%) on €3.6 billion of revenue (reported excluding metals). Net financial debt was about €1.4 billion at the end of 2025, helped by a sale of gold inventories. In the first half of 2026 Battery Cathode Materials returned to a positive adjusted EBITDA of €19 million, against a €15 million loss in the first half of 2025, on sales volumes level with 2025 and revenues that mainly reflected accruals for take-or-pay compensation on contractual volumes.

IGO is an ASX-listed critical-minerals company whose remaining operating nickel exposure is the late-life Nova underground nickel-copper-cobalt mine in Western Australia. Nova produced 15,304 tonnes of nickel in FY2026, and IGO expects mining to conclude in the December quarter of 2026. In July 2026, IGO agreed to sell Nova to Global Lithium Resources, with completion tied to the end of mining and other transaction conditions. Forrestania reached end of mine life in September 2024 and was sold; Cosmos remains on care and maintenance. Nova's short remaining life and the pending divestment are central to the current nickel exposure.

Chengxin Lithium Group is a Shenzhen-listed producer of lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide and lithium metal. Its core business is chemical conversion, with production capacity in China and Indonesia supplying cathode and battery-material customers.

The group has pursued upstream feedstock security through resource interests and operating subsidiaries in China and Zimbabwe, including the Sabi Star hard-rock operation, alongside external concentrate purchases. Ownership and development status vary across the portfolio, so the company combines direct resource exposure with a substantial conversion business rather than relying on a single mine. Its earnings remain sensitive to both finished lithium prices and the cost and availability of raw material.

ANTAM is an IDX-listed, Indonesian state-controlled diversified miner. Nickel is a material operating segment: the company mines nickel ore and produces ferronickel at Pomalaa, while also operating gold and bauxite businesses. ANTAM's 2024 annual report recorded 9.94 million wet metric tonnes of nickel ore production and 20,103 tonnes of nickel in ferronickel production; the figures are dated operating results rather than current guidance. It is included under the same controlled-subsidiary policy as PT Vale Indonesia because it is separately listed and has direct material nickel exposure.

Harita Nickel is an IDX-listed integrated nickel producer on Obi Island in North Maluku. Its June 2026 public-expose materials state that KPS phase 1 reached full capacity in March 2025 and phase 2 in December 2025, while two phase 3 lines began operating in the first quarter of 2026. Phase 3 was 94% complete at 30 June 2026; the same presentation retained a first-half 2026 completion target but did not confirm completion, so phase 3 is treated here as under construction and commissioning. Across the three phases, KPS is designed for 12 RKEF lines and 185,000 tonnes per year of contained nickel capacity. Harita also operates HPAL and downstream facilities producing mixed hydroxide precipitate, nickel sulfate and cobalt products; capacity figures are nameplate or company targets unless stated as actual production.

Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group is a Shenzhen-listed Chinese company with two principal businesses: lithium chemicals and civil explosives. Its lithium operations produce battery-grade hydroxide and carbonate for battery manufacturers, supported by contracted hard-rock feedstock and resource interests in several jurisdictions.

Lithium represented about 53% of FY2024 revenue, while civil explosives contributed roughly 42% and remained an important source of profit, making Yahua a diversified group rather than a lithium pure-play. Feedstock comes from supply arrangements in Australia and other markets as well as exposure to the Kamativi mine in Zimbabwe. Yahua contracts for that feedstock rather than owning the mines outright, so its raw-material position depends on renewing supply agreements.

PT Vale Indonesia is an IDX-listed integrated nickel producer. At 31 December 2025, its share-information page reported MIND ID at 34.00%, Vale Canada at 33.88%, Sumitomo Metal Mining at 11.48%, public shareholding at 20.64% and free float at 20.39%. The company reported 72,027 tonnes of nickel in matte production and 2.316 million wet metric tonnes of saprolite ore sales for 2025. It is included despite controlled ownership because it is separately listed, has a reported public float and has direct material nickel exposure. Its whole-company market capitalization overlaps economically with Vale's ownership interest and should not be added to Vale's as independent nickel exposure.

Liontown Resources is an Australian hard-rock lithium producer whose principal asset is the 100%-owned Kathleen Valley operation in Western Australia. Kathleen Valley began producing spodumene concentrate in July 2024 and moved into commercial production as the mine and processing plant ramped up. The operation is transitioning from its initial open-pit phase to an underground-led mining plan.

Liontown sells concentrate under long-term offtake arrangements with battery and automotive customers, alongside any uncommitted volumes. The company also owns the Buldania lithium project, but Kathleen Valley dominates its current production, capital requirements and operating risk. Resource scale and installed plant capacity describe the operation’s potential; actual output depends on underground development, plant performance and ramp-up execution.

YOUNGY is a Shenzhen-listed Chinese lithium company with activities spanning hard-rock mining, beneficiation, lithium chemicals and battery-related equipment. Its flagship upstream exposure is in the Jiajika pegmatite district near Kangding in Sichuan, where the company operates through subsidiaries and associated project interests.

The business sells lithium concentrate and participates in downstream processing, giving it exposure to more than one stage of the supply chain. Operating capacity, expansion projects and resource figures belong to different subsidiaries and should not be aggregated as though they were wholly available at group level. YOUNGY remains substantially lithium-focused, although its equipment activities provide a separate industrial revenue stream.

Nickel Industries is an ASX-listed Indonesian nickel producer. Its operating portfolio comprises four RKEF projects — Hengjaya, Ranger, Oracle and Angel Nickel — with combined nameplate capacity of about 120,000 tonnes per year of nickel in NPI or matte, plus a 10% interest in Huayue Nickel Cobalt. Nickel Industries increased its interest in the Excelsior Nickel Cobalt HPAL project to 46% in early 2026. ENC began commissioning in the second quarter of 2026 and produced first mixed hydroxide precipitate during the ramp-up; its stated nameplate capacity is about 72,000 tonnes per year of nickel equivalent. Nameplate and ramp-up targets are not presented as achieved annual production.

The Metals Company is a Nasdaq-listed developer seeking to collect polymetallic nodules containing nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. Its August 2025 NORI-D pre-feasibility study declared probable mineral reserves, but a PFS does not support a development decision and commercial-scale collection has not begun. On 19 August 2026, NOAA published TMC USA's consolidated USA-A application for an exploration license and commercial recovery permit. Certification, environmental review, public comment and a final permit decision remained outstanding. TMC is also pursuing rights through subsidiaries sponsored by Nauru and Tonga. Permitting, environmental assessment, legal challenges, financing and unproven commercial-scale collection and processing are central risks, so issuer resource and timetable claims are not presented as achieved production.

Sunrise Energy Metals is an ASX-listed developer with separate scandium and nickel-cobalt development plans in New South Wales. The company reports a 180 million tonne Sunrise nickel-cobalt resource grading 0.53% nickel and 0.10% cobalt, containing about 940,000 tonnes of nickel and 170,000 tonnes of cobalt; the estimate dates to 2020 and should not be read as a reserve or production forecast. Pre-development work continued during 2024/25, but the company says a development decision awaits improved nickel and cobalt market conditions. Community minutes record that nickel-cobalt work was scaled back while Syerston scandium became the priority. Sunrise is therefore included as a deferred nickel-cobalt developer, not a near-term producer.

Eramet is a diversified mining group with nickel exposure in Indonesia and New Caledonia. It holds a 38.7% indirect interest in PT Weda Bay Nickel, which sold 38.5 million wet metric tonnes of ore externally in 2025. Eramet's July 2026 interim update retained a 9 million wet metric tonne external-sales target for 2026 based on Weda Bay's initial 12 million tonne quota, pending a requested quota increase; that target is not an achieved volume. Eramet also owns 56% of SLN in New Caledonia. French State and Eramet loans to SLN were converted into perpetual subordinated quasi-equity instruments for reporting purposes, and subsequent State support has also been structured as quasi-equity financing rather than ordinary share capital. Since 2024, Eramet's adjusted performance indicators exclude SLN.

Sigma Lithium is a lithium producer operating the Grota do Cirilo hard-rock complex in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The integrated site combines open-pit mining and dense-media-separation processing to produce spodumene concentrate for export to battery-material customers.

The first production phase established the company’s operating base, while additional processing capacity has been announced as a staged expansion. Sigma’s business is concentrated in one Brazilian mining district, and its production profile depends on mine sequencing, plant recoveries and the execution of those expansion stages. The Greentech plant uses dry-stacked tailings with no tailings dam, and Sigma sells the concentrate under its Quintuple Zero branding.

Elevra Lithium is a dual-listed lithium producer and developer created through the completed combination of Sayona Mining and Piedmont Lithium. Its core operating asset is the North American Lithium mine and concentrator in Québec, whose A$421 million expansion funding we covered separately, supported by a broader portfolio of hard-rock projects and strategic interests inherited from both predecessor companies.

The portfolio includes Québec development and exploration assets, US project exposure and an interest in the Ewoyaa project in Ghana. These assets sit at different stages and have different ownership structures. Elevra trades on the ASX under ELV and on Nasdaq under ELVR; the current company and portfolio replace the former standalone Sayona and Piedmont identities.

Lithium Argentina is a lithium producer and developer focused on brine assets in Argentina. Its principal producing exposure is a 44.8% interest in the Cauchari-Olaroz operation in Jujuy Province, with the balance held by Ganfeng Lithium and the provincial company JEMSE.

The development portfolio includes Pastos Grandes and other salar interests in Salta, covered in our report on the Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes scoping study released with Ganfeng in November 2025. Lithium Argentina and Ganfeng have announced a transaction intended to combine contiguous Argentine assets within a new joint venture and pursue a larger integrated development plan. Lithium Argentina has no material operating business outside lithium brines.

Nickel Asia is a PSE-listed Philippine nickel ore producer with six operating mines. It reported 18.56 million wet metric tonnes of ore sales in 2025 and attributable net income of ₱6.27 billion; those are dated company-reported results, not forward guidance. The company sold its Coral Bay interest to Sumitomo Metal Mining in 2025 and retains a 10% interest in Taganito HPAL. Its renewable-energy subsidiary, Emerging Power, reported 172 MW of operating capacity in the company's FY2025 investor materials. Nickel Asia's mining exposure is Philippine, so it is not grouped with the Indonesian operating examples.

Lithium Americas is developing the Thacker Pass sedimentary lithium project in Humboldt County, Nevada. The planned operation would mine lithium-bearing claystone and process it on site into battery-grade lithium carbonate. Construction is under way, but the project has not begun commercial production.

Thacker Pass is held through a joint-venture structure in which Lithium Americas retains the controlling interest and General Motors owns a minority stake. Project funding also includes a US Department of Energy loan facility, with drawdowns tied to agreed conditions and construction progress; our Thacker Pass construction and capex update covers the drawdown conditions and the 2026 spending plan. Lithium Americas is a concentrated, single-project development exposure until Thacker Pass enters production.

Talon Metals completed its acquisition of the Eagle Mine and Humboldt Mill in January 2026. Talon describes Eagle as the only primary nickel mine currently operating in the United States; that claim is company-attributed and refers to a primary nickel mine, not every source of US nickel. Talon's development portfolio includes a 51% interest in the Tamarack nickel-copper-cobalt project and regional exploration ground. The US Department of Defense awarded Talon up to US$114.8 million for a proposed North Dakota processing facility. Talon's ownership page showed Lundin Mining at approximately 18.2% on 31 May 2026, after subsequent dilution.

Vulcan Energy Resources is developing an integrated renewable-energy and lithium business in Germany’s Upper Rhine Valley. Its planned process combines geothermal-brine production, renewable heat and power generation, direct lithium extraction and conversion into lithium hydroxide for European battery customers.

The first commercial development is organized around the Lionheart project and associated extraction, geothermal and conversion facilities. Construction and financing have been advanced in stages, while customer offtake and public funding support the development plan. Pilot and demonstration results establish process performance at smaller scale. The company’s future revenue is intended to combine energy sales with lithium chemicals, but commissioning and sustained nameplate output remain execution milestones.

Core Lithium owns the Finniss hard-rock lithium operation near Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory. After placing Finniss into care and maintenance during the lithium downturn, the company approved and funded a staged restart in March 2026, detailed in our report on the A$290 million Finniss restart decision. Mining recommenced at the Grants open pit in May, while development of the BP33 underground mine and upgrades to the processing plant progressed in parallel.

Ore from Grants was scheduled to support plant recommissioning and an initial concentrate shipment later in 2026, before BP33 becomes the longer-life underground production base. Core also controls a wider exploration position across the Finniss district, but near-term operating performance and cash generation depend on bringing Grants, the plant and BP33 into service on the planned sequence.

PMET Resources is a Canadian hard-rock lithium developer advancing the 100%-owned Shaakichiuwaanaan project in Québec’s Eeyou Istchee James Bay region. The project, formerly known as Corvette, contains a large spodumene-pegmatite resource centered on the CV5 deposit, with additional targets across an extensive land package. The separate CV13 deposit hosts the Rigel and Vega zones, which PMET reports as the largest known pollucite-hosted cesium pegmatite mineral resource in the world, giving the project a second critical-mineral product alongside lithium.

PMET is progressing resource conversion, metallurgical testwork, environmental studies and project engineering toward an economic study and development decision. The company has no operating mine or commercial lithium sales. Mine design, recoveries, capital requirements and production capacity remain subject to further technical work, permitting, financing and consultation with Indigenous communities.

Standard Lithium is developing direct-lithium-extraction projects in the Smackover Formation, a brine-bearing geological unit extending across Arkansas and East Texas. The company plans to combine existing brine-handling infrastructure with DLE and conventional chemical processing to produce battery-quality lithium products.

Its principal positions are held through Smackover Lithium, a joint venture with Equinor, and include the South West Arkansas project and the Franklin project in East Texas. Each project has separate resource, study and ownership parameters, so gross resource and planned capacity figures are not fully attributable to Standard Lithium. Pilot and demonstration work has supported process development, but neither project had entered commercial production as of August 2026.

Q2 Metals is a Canadian lithium explorer advancing the Cisco hard-rock project in Québec’s Eeyou Istchee James Bay region. An initial resource announced in April 2026 comprised approximately 295 million tonnes at about 1.36% lithium oxide in the inferred category, combining pit-constrained and underground-constrained material.

The company controls an 801-claim land package covering about 41,253 hectares and is drilling to expand the system and convert part of the resource to higher-confidence categories. A preliminary economic assessment was targeted for late 2026. Cisco has no reserve, feasibility study, construction decision or commercial production; the project remains dependent on further drilling, metallurgical work, infrastructure planning, permitting and financing.

Nouveau Monde Graphite (NMG) is a NYSE and TSX-listed integrated graphite company developing what is intended to become North America's largest, fully integrated ore-to-battery-material natural graphite production operation, located entirely within a 150-kilometer radius of Montréal, Québec. NMG's Phase 2 development encompasses the Matawinie Mine and the Bécancour Battery Material Plant, which will process Matawinie graphite concentrate into battery-grade active anode material (AAM). An updated feasibility study released in March 2025 confirmed Phase 2 viability with an after-tax IRR of 17.5% and NPV of US$1.053 billion.

NMG restructured its offtake position significantly in October–November 2025: it terminated supply agreements with General Motors, retained a revised binding offtake with Panasonic Energy, and signed a new binding offtake with a major European battery manufacturer. The company is actively pursuing project financing in parallel with a US Department of Energy loan application and benefits from Québec provincial support including a C$50 million strategic investment from Investissement Québec.

Magna Mining is a TSX-Venture-listed nickel-copper producer and developer in Ontario's Sudbury Basin. McCreedy West is operating: Magna reported 98,446 tons processed in the second quarter of 2026 and 4.5 million payable copper-equivalent pounds, including 0.27 million pounds of nickel. McCreedy West ore is processed at Vale Base Metals' Clarabelle mill under an ore-sales and offtake arrangement; it is not a Magna-owned mill. Crean Hill is a past-producing development asset acquired from Glencore, and Shakespeare is a development-stage nickel-copper-PGM project with a completed feasibility study.

Lifezone Metals is developing the Kabanga nickel-copper-cobalt project in Tanzania. After the July 2025 acquisition and termination of the former BHP agreements, Lifezone owns 100% of Kabanga Nickel Limited. KNL owns 84% of the Tanzanian operating company and the Government of Tanzania owns 16%; BHP is no longer a current project backer. The November 2025 feasibility study defines a 52.2 million tonne probable reserve grading 1.98% nickel for the mine and concentrator plan. Its economics exclude the proposed downstream Hydromet refinery. Hydromet refining and technology licensing are separate development and commercial scopes and should not be read as part of the mine-and-concentrator feasibility case.

Wildcat Resources is an Australian hard-rock lithium developer whose principal asset is the 100%-owned Tabba Tabba project near Port Hedland in Western Australia. Tabba Tabba lies on granted mining leases and contains a substantial spodumene resource, supported by exploration across multiple pegmatite systems.

A pre-feasibility study and maiden ore reserve moved the project beyond pure exploration, and the company is advancing definitive-feasibility and permitting work. Tabba Tabba is not yet in construction or production. Wildcat also holds the Bolt Cutter lithium project and the Mt Adrah gold project, but Tabba Tabba is the main basis for its lithium exposure and prospective development value.

Galan Lithium is developing the Hombre Muerto West brine project in Catamarca, Argentina, alongside the earlier-stage Candelas project in the same salar district. Hombre Muerto West is being developed in stages, beginning with a smaller initial operation intended to produce lithium-chloride concentrate before later expansion.

Wet-plant commissioning was completed and first processed lithium chloride was produced in the June 2026 quarter, with brine concentrating in the evaporation ponds. First sales of 6% lithium-chloride concentrate under Phase 1 offtake were targeted for the second half of 2026; no saleable output had been shipped as of August 2026. The longer-term production profile and subsequent phases remain subject to successful commissioning, financing and execution. Galan also owns the Greenbushes South hard-rock exploration project in Western Australia, although its Argentine brine assets are the company’s principal focus.

Chalice Mining is an ASX-listed developer of the Gonneville PGE-nickel-copper-cobalt deposit in Western Australia. The often-cited figure of approximately 10 million tonnes is contained nickel equivalent across palladium, platinum, nickel, copper and cobalt; it is not 10 million tonnes of contained nickel. Chalice released the preliminary feasibility study in December 2025. Feasibility-study work began in the first quarter of 2026, alongside metallurgical test work, approvals and engineering, with the company targeting completion in the second half of 2027. PGEs are the principal value driver, so Gonneville is retained as polymetallic nickel exposure rather than a primary nickel project.

Canada Nickel is a TSX-Venture-listed developer of the Crawford nickel project near Timmins, Ontario. Canada Nickel ranks the Crawford reserve second globally and bases its carbon-storage claims on mineral-carbonation test work and project studies; both descriptions are company-attributed and remain subject to study assumptions and execution. Named strategic shareholders include Agnico Eagle, Samsung SDI, Taykwa Tagamou Nation and Anglo American. Vale is not identified as a strategic equity investor. Canada Nickel's NetZero Metals nickel and stainless-steel facilities are proposed downstream projects and are separate from Crawford's mine plan, permitting and financing.

Ioneer is developing the 100%-owned Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The deposit is designed as an open-pit operation with on-site processing into lithium carbonate and boric acid, giving the project exposure to two US-designated critical minerals.

Rhyolite Ridge has received its principal federal permit and has advanced engineering, offtake and financing work, but a final investment decision and commercial construction program remained outstanding as of August 2026. Earlier proposed joint-venture arrangements with Sibanye-Stillwater did not proceed. More recent memoranda with prospective Korean partners were non-binding and therefore do not represent committed equity, debt or construction contracts.

Sovereign Metals is an ASX, AIM, and OTCQX-listed critical minerals developer whose flagship Kasiya Rutile-Graphite Project in Malawi hosts 538 Mt of probable reserves at 1.03% rutile and 1.66% TGC (optimized PFS, January 2025), the world's second-largest known flake graphite deposit and its largest known natural rutile deposit. Kasiya's graphite is extracted as a co-product of rutile mining, compressing the incremental graphite production cost to just US$241 per tonne, below the China weighted average C1 cost. The deposit supports a proposed steady-state operation producing approximately 245,000 tpa of rutile and 288,000 tpa of graphite across a 25-year mine life.

The optimized PFS (January 2025), prepared with technical oversight from 19.9% strategic shareholder Rio Tinto, outlined pre-tax NPV and robust project economics anchored by the ultra-low graphite cost structure. Rio Tinto's involvement as both a technical partner and strategic investor provides meaningful validation and potential pathway to project financing. Kasiya's graphite product — large-flake, high-purity — is directly suited to battery anode applications, and the co-product economics make it one of the most cost-competitive potential graphite projects in the world.

Surge Battery Metals is a Canadian-listed developer advancing the Nevada North sedimentary lithium project in Elko County, Nevada. A 2026 resource update reported measured, indicated and inferred claystone resources across a broad near-surface deposit, while a preliminary economic assessment outlined a potential long-life lithium-carbonate operation.

The resource and assessment are project-level estimates, not reserves or current production. Evolution Mining is earning an interest through exploration expenditure, which is expected to reduce Surge’s attributable ownership as the earn-in conditions are satisfied. The company is advancing drilling and feasibility work, but Nevada North still requires a bankable study, permitting, financing and a construction decision before development.

NanoXplore is one of the world's largest producers of graphene powder and the only vertically integrated graphene company of scale in North America. Headquartered in Montreal, the company operates two business segments: Advanced Materials, Plastics and Composite Products — which generates the large majority of revenue through the manufacture of graphene-enhanced polymers, pellets, and composite products sold primarily to the transportation and industrial sectors — and Battery Cells and Materials, which is developing silicon-graphene enhanced lithium-ion cells targeting the EV and grid storage markets through its VoltaXplore subsidiary.

Revenues of approximately C$126 million in fiscal 2025 (year ended June 30, 2025) reflected modest softness driven by weaker commercial vehicle demand, while the VoltaXplore segment continued cell development and customer sampling activities. NanoXplore is unique on this list as a revenue-generating graphene business rather than a graphite miner or anode developer: its investment case rests on graphene adoption in industrial materials rather than battery anode market share.

Centaurus Metals is an ASX-listed developer of the Jaguar Nickel Sulphide Project in Brazil. The August 2024 mineral resource is 138.2 million tonnes at 0.87% nickel for approximately 1.20 million tonnes of contained nickel. The May 2025 proved and probable open-pit ore reserve is 52.0 million tonnes at 0.78% nickel for 406,100 tonnes of contained nickel. A feasibility study was completed in July 2024 and the 2025 value-engineering work updated project economics and the reserve. The project has key installation approvals, while strategic partnering, financing and a final investment decision remain outstanding.

Savannah Resources is the owner and developer of the Barroso hard-rock lithium project in northern Portugal. The project contains several spodumene deposits within two adjacent mining-lease areas and has received a positive environmental-impact decision and designation as an EU Strategic Project under the Critical Raw Materials Act.

A Phase 1 definitive feasibility study released in July 2026 outlined average production of approximately 191,000 tonnes a year of 5.5% spodumene concentrate, equivalent to roughly 25,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent. A Portuguese state grant of up to about €110 million supports the development plan, while final permitting, financing, a final investment decision and construction remain necessary before the project can produce.

Li-FT Power is a Canadian hard-rock lithium developer with projects in Québec and the Northwest Territories. In May 2026 it completed the acquisition of Winsome Resources, adding the 100%-owned Adina project in Québec, and consolidated a 75% interest in the adjacent Galinée property, with SOQUEM retaining 25%.

Adina hosts an indicated resource of 61.4 million tonnes at 1.14% lithium oxide and an inferred resource of 16.5 million tonnes at 1.19%. Li-FT also owns the Yellowknife Lithium Project, where an initial inferred resource covers eight spodumene dykes, together with earlier-stage regional properties. The company is advancing drilling, environmental work and economic studies across the enlarged portfolio but has no operating mine or commercial lithium production.

Syrah Resources is an ASX-listed industrial minerals and battery materials company operating the world's largest integrated natural graphite mine and processing facility at Balama, Mozambique, and a downstream Active Anode Material (AAM) facility in Vidalia, Louisiana — the first vertically integrated natural graphite AAM operation outside China. Balama holds nameplate capacity of approximately 350,000 tonnes per annum and a reserve life exceeding 50 years at a high-grade 16% TGC. The Vidalia facility has a current nameplate of 11.25 ktpa AAM, with a feasibility study completed for an expansion to 45 ktpa subject to offtake and financing commitments.

Balama was suspended in mid-2024 due to weak graphite prices, then disrupted by civil unrest in Mozambique in late 2024 — triggering a force majeure declaration — before a phased restart commenced in early 2025. Since that restart Balama has run in campaign mode rather than continuously, with production campaigns scheduled against confirmed customer demand and inventory position. Mozambique's Parliament approved a new mining law in 2026 lifting mandatory State participation in mining projects from 5% to a minimum of 15% (free carried, non-dilutable); Syrah's Balama Mining Agreement, which expires in 2038, contains stability provisions that preserve existing arrangements, and the State's free-carried interest in Twigg Exploration and Mining Limitada, which owns and operates Balama, remained 5% as at Q2 2026. Syrah's strategic position as the only operating large-scale Western natural graphite mine with connected US downstream processing makes it the closest thing to a Western graphite bellwether, but the combination of low graphite prices, Mozambique political risk, and ongoing Vidalia qualification costs has kept the balance sheet under sustained pressure. In March 2026 Syrah received non-binding strategic funding proposals from the US International Development Finance Corporation, the US Department of Energy and AustralianSuper to convert a substantial portion of its indebtedness into new shares and convertible loan notes, provide additional liquidity, and eliminate cash interest and principal repayments for three years. Syrah completed a fully underwritten entitlement offer of approximately A$104 million (about US$72 million) in March 2026, supported by AustralianSuper.

GrafTech International is a NYSE-listed manufacturer of ultra-high-power graphite electrodes used in electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking. Unlike natural or synthetic graphite anode producers, GrafTech's graphite exposure is to the industrial metallurgical market: its electrodes are a consumable input to EAF steel furnaces, with demand driven by steel production volumes and the global decarbonization shift from blast furnace to EAF steelmaking. The company is uniquely differentiated by its vertical integration into petroleum needle coke through its Seadrift, Texas facility, providing cost advantages relative to peers who must source needle coke externally.

GrafTech's investment case is under significant strain. The electrode pricing environment has been severely depressed by Chinese overcapacity and weak global steel demand, with average realized prices falling sharply from their 2018–2019 peak. The company carries substantial legacy debt from its 2015 leveraged buyout and has faced several years of earnings pressure. Two developments in 2026 run the other way: in April 2026 the US International Trade Commission made a preliminary determination that the domestic industry is materially injured by large-diameter graphite electrode imports from China and India, referring the case to the Department of Commerce; and GrafTech reported in July 2026 that order commitments secured since its late-March 2026 price announcement were on average more than 15% above the levels achieved beforehand, though most of its 2026 order book was already committed at earlier prices. GrafTech is included on this list as the primary listed proxy for industrial synthetic graphite demand, but its exposure to battery markets is indirect and minimal compared to most peers.

Atlantic Lithium is developing the Ewoyaa hard-rock lithium project in Ghana with Elevra Lithium and Ghanaian stakeholders. Ewoyaa is designed as an open-pit mine and dense-media-separation operation producing spodumene concentrate, supported by nearby road, port and power infrastructure.

Ghana’s Parliament ratified the project’s mining lease in March 2026, the first lithium mining lease granted and ratified in Ghana, removing a major approval hurdle; our report on the Ewoyaa ratification sets out the lease terms and the 5% to 12% sliding-scale royalty. The partners were still reviewing the development pathway, and construction and commercial production had not begun. Atlantic’s economic exposure reflects its project interest after partner earn-ins and Ghanaian participation rather than 100% of Ewoyaa’s gross resource, study economics or planned capacity.

Graphite One is a TSX-V listed development-stage company advancing what the US Geological Survey has identified as the largest known natural graphite deposit in the United States, at Graphite Creek, located approximately 60 kilometers north of Nome, Alaska. The company's strategic vision is a fully domestic mine-to-anode supply chain, with natural flake graphite mined at Graphite Creek processed and shipped to an advanced battery anode material (AAM) facility planned for Warren, Ohio. A bankable feasibility study completed in April 2025 — funded by a US$37.5 million Department of Defense grant — shows a post-tax IRR of 27% and NPV of approximately US$5 billion over a 20-year mine life.

The company received a US$325 million non-binding EXIM Letter of Interest for the Ohio facility in 2024, and the project's domestic supply chain narrative aligns strongly with US critical minerals policy priorities under both the IRA and CHIPS-adjacent defense procurement frameworks. The Alaska mine's remote location and the need to build two geographically separated facilities represent the primary capital and logistical execution challenges.

Global Lithium Resources is an Australian hard-rock lithium developer focused on the Manna project near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. Manna contains a spodumene resource and has progressed through drilling, metallurgical testwork, a granted mining lease and development studies.

The company agreed to sell its Marble Bar project to Jiangsu Lopal, concentrating its future development case on Manna. That disposal and any resulting proceeds remain subject to the transaction’s completion terms. Global Lithium has no producing mine; feasibility, permitting, financing and a final investment decision are still required before Manna can enter construction and produce concentrate.

Falcon Energy Materials (formerly SRG Mining) is a TSX-V-listed developer pursuing a mine-to-market integrated battery anode materials strategy anchored by the Lola Graphite Project in Guinea and the Morocco Anode Plant, a planned CSPG facility at Jorf Lasfar near Casablanca. A PEA filed January 2025 outlined a combined after-tax NPV8% of US$1.32 billion and IRR of 43% over 25 years, with initial capital of US$185 million for Lola and US$73 million for the Morocco plant. A CSPG pilot plant at Jorf Lasfar was completed in Q4 2025 and is producing samples for customer qualification trials.

A material legal risk overhangs the upstream asset: in May 2025 a presidential decree from Guinea purported to revoke the Lola project's mining convention, and the company has contested this through international arbitration. The Morocco Anode Plant strategy is designed to be feedstock-flexible — able to process concentrate from Lola or third-party sources — providing some resilience to the upstream legal uncertainty, but the Guinea dispute represents a significant overhang on the investment case until resolved.

Sherritt International owns 50% of the Moa Joint Venture with Cuba's General Nickel Company. Moa produces mixed sulfide precipitate for refining at Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. In February 2026, Sherritt issued 100%-basis guidance of 26,000–28,000 tonnes of finished nickel and 2,750–2,850 tonnes of cobalt; these were guidance figures, not nameplate capacity or attributable production. Sherritt's August 2026 results said Moa mining and processing had ceased near the end of the second quarter because of fuel and supply disruption, and Fort Saskatchewan refining stopped on 22 June after feed was depleted. Restart requires US government approval and updated 2026 guidance was pending, so the February guidance is no longer presented as current expected output.

Talga Group is an ASX-listed battery materials and technology company advancing what would be Europe's first vertically integrated mine-to-anode natural graphite operation — the Vittangi Anode Project in northern Sweden. The project consists of two assets: the Nunasvaara South graphite mine near Vittangi, one of the highest-grade graphite resources in Europe, and the Luleå Anode Refinery, which will produce Talnode-C, Talga's proprietary low-emission natural graphite anode material. Talga has moved to a phased build: front-end engineering is under way on a 5,000 tpa first commercial line, with staged scale-up to a total of 24,500 tpa. The Nunasvaara South environmental permit came into force in October 2024, and the Swedish detailed zoning plan for the mine was adopted in January 2026, clearing the way for detailed engineering and building permits.

The refinery holds a EUR 70 million EU Innovation Fund grant and a EUR 150 million senior debt commitment from the European Investment Bank. Talga's anode material achieves first-cycle efficiency above 94% and a carbon footprint of approximately 1.8 kg CO₂/kg — among the lowest of any anode material globally — positioning the project as a premium ESG-compliant supply source for European gigafactories seeking to meet battery passport requirements from 2027.

Renascor Resources is an ASX-listed developer advancing the Siviour Graphite Project on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, a proven reserve of 16.8 Mt at 8.2% TGC and the largest proven graphite reserve outside Africa, toward vertically integrated production of battery-grade purified spherical graphite (PSG). The reserve supports a 40-year mine life. The company's downstream Battery Anode Material strategy uses a proprietary HF-free purification process achieving 99.98% purity, providing a cleaner and lower-cost alternative to the hydrofluoric acid purification standard in China.

The project holds Australian Federal Major Project Status and a conditional A$185 million loan from Export Finance Australia under the Critical Minerals Facility. A PSG demonstration facility in Adelaide produced qualified material for customer sampling in 2025. Renascor's fully Australian project — ore, processing, and anode material production all within South Australia — positions it as a natural beneficiary of supply chain diversification policies in Japan, Korea, and Europe.

Atlas Lithium is a Nasdaq-listed developer advancing the Neves hard-rock lithium project in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The company controls a portfolio of pegmatite rights in the state’s Lithium Valley and is concentrating development work on establishing a staged spodumene-concentrate operation at Neves.

Engineering, modular plant procurement, permitting, financing and site preparation have progressed at different times, but the project had not achieved commercial production as of August 2026. Announced plant throughput, concentrate capacity and start dates are management plans until construction, commissioning and sustained saleable output are confirmed. Atlas also holds non-lithium mineral rights, although Neves is the principal basis for its valuation and list inclusion.

Lithium Ionic is a Canadian-listed developer of hard-rock lithium assets in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Its flagship Bandeira project lies in the Itinga lithium district and has advanced through a definitive feasibility study and environmental permitting work for a planned underground mine and spodumene-concentrate operation.

Construction had not begun as of August 2026, and the installation-stage license remained a required development milestone. On 25 August 2026 the company completed the sale of its Salinas-group properties, including Baixa Grande, to a PLS Group subsidiary for US$37.5 million: US$30.0 million received in cash at closing and US$7.5 million deferred until the earlier of a positive final investment decision on PLS' Colina project and 31 December 2029. Lithium Ionic retains a 2.0% royalty on future spodumene sales from the properties sold. The sale leaves Bandeira as the flagship development asset, with the Itinga-Outro Lado ground retained as regional exploration potential, and funds early works ahead of a construction decision.

EcoGraf is an ASX-listed battery anode materials company building a vertically integrated graphite business spanning upstream mining in Tanzania, midstream mechanical shaping, and downstream HF-free purification facilities. The company's upstream asset is the Epanko Graphite Project in Tanzania — one of Africa's largest development-ready natural flake graphite deposits at 290.8 Mt at 7.2% TGC. EcoGraf's most distinctive asset is its proprietary EcoGraf HF-free purification technology, patented in the US and Australia, which reduces operating costs by approximately 34% versus conventional processing and delivers a carbon footprint of 5–10.6 kg CO₂/kg, achieving purities up to 99.99% C.

Two separate facilities sit behind that technology. A Product Qualification Facility in Perth runs continuously on third-party feedstock, producing samples for customer qualification trials and scale-up data ahead of Epanko coming online. The approved commercial HFfree BAM plant at Kwinana in Western Australia is designed for 5,000 tpa initially and expandable to 20,000 tpa, and has yet to be built. The HF-free technology has attracted interest from battery manufacturers and governments seeking cleaner anode material supply chains, and has been validated through qualification programs with multiple Tier 1 battery customers.

American Lithium is a Canadian-listed developer with two principal lithium projects: the TLC sedimentary project in Nevada and the Falchani hard-rock project in Peru. TLC is planned around open-pit extraction and processing of lithium-bearing volcanic sediments, while Falchani is a large lithium-bearing volcanic-rock deposit requiring a separate development and permitting pathway.

Both projects have technical studies and defined resources but remain pre-construction and pre-production. In Peru, the company also owns the Macusani uranium project, creating material non-lithium exposure and additional regulatory complexity. American Lithium’s development case therefore depends on advancing multiple large projects through engineering, permitting, financing and local stakeholder processes rather than on current operating revenue.

Delta Lithium is an Australian lithium developer with the Mt Ida and Yinnetharra hard-rock projects in Western Australia. Mt Ida contains lithium and gold mineralization, while Yinnetharra covers a broader pegmatite district where the company is undertaking resource-definition and exploration work.

Delta demerged its principal Mt Ida gold assets into the separately listed Ballard Mining in 2025 and retained a minority equity holding, reported at about 34.4% after subsequent ownership changes. That stake is an investment in Ballard rather than direct ownership of all its assets. Delta’s retained lithium projects remain at the exploration and development stages and have not begun commercial lithium production.

Quantum Graphite is an ASX-listed developer advancing the Uley 2 flake graphite project on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula — one of the largest known high-grade natural flake graphite deposits in the world, built on the site of the century-old Uley mine. The project holds a JORC Ore Reserve of 4.0 Mt at 11.89% TGC for Stage 1, with substantial resource expansion potential. A completed DFS targets production of at least 100,000 tpa of high-purity coarse flake graphite from a fully permitted site at projected capital cost of approximately A$152.7 million.

Quantum received Australian Federal Major Project Status in March 2025. The company holds a binding offtake with Swiss trading group MRI Trading AG for 50% of Stage 1 production, and in 2026 concluded a 20-year ore supply agreement with Sunlands Pure Group covering supply and downstream processing of Uley flake graphite. Uley 2's coarse flake size distribution and high TGC grade are significant differentiators — large and jumbo flake commands a substantial price premium over the fine flake that dominates Chinese supply — and the project's permitted status and existing infrastructure reduce development risk relative to greenfield peers.

Lake Resources is an Australian-listed developer of the Kachi lithium-brine project in Catamarca, Argentina. Kachi is based on a large salar-brine resource and a planned process combining brine production, direct lithium extraction and downstream conversion into lithium carbonate.

The project has undergone resource, engineering and process-development work, including pilot-scale testing, but it has not entered commercial production. Lake must still complete the development configuration, permitting, financing and partner arrangements required for construction.

FPX Nickel is a TSX-Venture-listed developer of the Baptiste project in British Columbia. Baptiste hosts awaruite, a naturally occurring sulfur-free nickel-iron alloy, commonly represented as Ni₃Fe, in ultramafic rock. The mine and concentrator were assessed in a 2023 pre-feasibility study, with feasibility, pilot-scale test work and environmental assessment activities continuing. FPX's Awaruite Refinery study is a separate, stand-alone downstream concept that assumes external feed and British Columbia hydroelectricity; it is not part of Baptiste's mineral resource. Reported carbon-intensity advantages are project-study outcomes based on specified power, flowsheet and sequestration assumptions, not universal properties of all awaruite processing.

Kodal Minerals is an AIM-listed lithium and gold company whose principal asset is an indirect 49% interest in the Bougouni hard-rock lithium operation in Mali. The project is held through Kodal Mining UK, in which Hainan Mining owns the controlling 51% interest, so Bougouni production and capacity are gross project figures unless stated on an attributable basis.

Bougouni achieved first spodumene-concentrate production in February 2025. Kodal later corrected full-year 2025 output to 41,916 dry metric tonnes at an average grade of 5.33% lithium oxide. The operation provides current producing exposure, while expansion, recovery improvements and future shipments remain dependent on plant performance, logistics and the joint-venture partners. Kodal also retains gold exploration interests outside the lithium business.

NOVONIX is a NASDAQ and ASX-listed battery materials and technology company building what is expected to be North America's first large-scale commercial synthetic graphite anode material facility. Its principal asset is the Riverside facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which uses NOVONIX's proprietary continuous graphitization furnace technology to produce high-performance synthetic graphite for battery, defense, and industrial applications. Riverside is designed for 20,000 tpa at full capacity, with volumes allocated to Panasonic, Stellantis and PowerCo. NOVONIX delivered the first North American mass-production qualification sample of synthetic anode material to Panasonic in June 2026 and targets mass production for Panasonic in the second half of 2027, subject to completion of qualification.

US government backing includes a US$100 million DOE grant, US$103 million investment tax credit, and a conditional US$754.8 million DOE loan commitment for a planned second plant targeting 31,500 tpa. NOVONIX's technology differentiation — continuous graphitization versus the batch furnace process standard in China — offers potential cost and throughput advantages that underpin its partnerships with major OEMs and battery manufacturers seeking qualified non-Chinese synthetic graphite supply.

Westwater Resources is a NYSE American-listed battery-grade natural graphite developer advancing a fully vertically integrated domestic graphite supply chain in Alabama. The company's two-asset strategy centers on the Kellyton Graphite Processing Plant — a US$245 million facility currently under construction in Kellyton, Alabama, designed to produce approximately 12,500 tpa of battery-grade coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG) at Phase 1, raised from 7,500 tpa in response to customer demand — and the Coosa Graphite Deposit, the largest known natural flake graphite resource in the contiguous United States, with 26 million short tons of indicated resources at 2.89% Cg approximately 50 kilometers from Kellyton.

As of mid-2026 a qualification line is producing CSPG samples for customer trials, while completion of Phase 1 depends on financing: Westwater has maintained a Phase 1 capital estimate of about US$245 million, of which roughly US$130 million had been invested since inception, and has said initial production would follow about 12 months after the remaining funding is secured. In August 2026 the Export-Import Bank of the United States approved a US$25 million loan towards the Alabama graphite operations, with final terms still to be agreed. Westwater holds a US$76.6 million DOE grant for the Kellyton plant. The company's fully domestic Alabama supply chain — mining, processing, and anode material production all within the continental US — positions it as a direct beneficiary of IRA domestic content requirements and Department of Defense supply chain security priorities.

Frontier Lithium is developing the PAK hard-rock lithium district in northwestern Ontario, Canada. The portfolio includes the PAK and Spark spodumene deposits and additional pegmatite discoveries along the same regional trend, giving the company a potential multi-deposit mining base.

Frontier’s development strategy combines concentrate production with a proposed Ontario lithium-chemicals conversion facility. The company is advancing technical studies, environmental assessment, infrastructure planning, Indigenous engagement and financing discussions, supported by public-sector initiatives for critical minerals. Neither the mine nor the converter is in commercial production, and downstream integration remains part of the development plan rather than an operating business.

Nickel 28 Capital is a TSX-Venture-listed investment company. Its principal operating exposure is an 8.56% non-operated joint-venture interest in the Ramu Nickel-Cobalt Operation in Papua New Guinea, supplemented by a portfolio of nickel and cobalt royalties. Ramu produced 33,007 tonnes of contained nickel and 3,099 tonnes of contained cobalt in mixed hydroxide precipitate in 2025 on a 100%-project basis. Nickel 28's 2026 guidance is also stated on a 100%-project basis: 33,100 tonnes of nickel and 3,100 tonnes of cobalt. Those figures are not attributable production. The interest increases to 11.3% only after the relevant partner loans have been repaid.

Lithium Chile is a Calgary-based, TSX Venture Exchange-listed lithium developer with a salar-brine portfolio covering about 106,000 hectares across Chile plus roughly 29,000 hectares on the Salar de Arizaro in Salta, Argentina, its most advanced asset. In April 2025 it was awarded a CEOL exclusive lithium exploitation contract over the Salar de Coipasa in Chile, and in December 2024 it spun its non-lithium copper-gold-silver assets into a separate company, Kairos Gold.

In December 2025 the company signed a definitive agreement to sell its approximately 80% interest in the Arizaro project to China Union Holdings for US$175 million; the sale received 96% shareholder approval in May 2026 and, with its completion deadline extended during 2026, remained subject to review under Canada's Investment Canada Act and had not closed as of August 2026. If completed, the transaction would leave Lithium Chile focused on its Chilean salar portfolio, funded by the sale proceeds.

Ardea Resources is an ASX-listed developer of the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project in Western Australia. Ardea owns 65% and a Sumitomo Metal Mining–Mitsubishi Corporation consortium owns 35%. The consortium's potential increase to 50% is conditional on a positive final investment decision; it is not current ownership. Ardea's 3 June 2026 update said the definitive feasibility study final report would extend beyond 30 June and that a schedule update was expected by the end of October 2026, replacing the stale first-half 2026 target. Potential support from Export Finance Australia and US EXIM is conditional and non-binding and does not constitute committed project finance.

E3 Lithium is developing the Clearwater brine project in Alberta’s Leduc Formation. The project is designed to use conventional oilfield-style brine production, direct lithium extraction and downstream processing to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate while reinjecting depleted brine underground.

E3 has operated pilot and demonstration facilities, produced battery-grade product and supplied samples to potential customers. These activities support process qualification but do not constitute commercial production. The company is progressing detailed engineering, regulatory applications and funding work toward a final investment decision, including conditional Canadian government support. Clearwater’s study capacity and economics remain development assumptions until the project is financed, built and commissioned.

Zentek is a TSXV and NASDAQ-listed graphene IP development and commercialization company based in Guelph, Ontario. The company has pivoted from its roots as a graphite mineral explorer — it holds 100% of the Albany Graphite Project in Northern Ontario, a rare hydrothermal graphite deposit capable of producing ultra-high-purity graphite at >99.9% Cg — toward a platform for graphene-based technology applications. Zentek's commercial focus has narrowed to ZenGUARD, a graphene-silver antimicrobial coating for surgical masks and HVAC filter media; ZenARMOR, a graphene oxide-based corrosion inhibitor for aviation coatings; and Albany Graphite Corp, a subsidiary advancing the Albany project toward a pre-feasibility study.

Revenues remain very small — approximately C$872,000 in fiscal 2025 — and the company is pre-profitability, funded by equity raises and government grants. Zentek's investment case is primarily a bet on graphene commercialization in industrial and defense applications rather than battery materials, distinguishing it from most others on this list.

Electra Battery Materials (NASDAQ / TSXV: ELBM) is a Canadian battery-materials company building what it describes as North America's only battery-grade cobalt sulfate refinery, at Temiskaming Shores in Ontario. The refinery is still under construction: in February 2026 Electra approved a US$73 million construction budget, and it has secured a binding C$20 million federal funding agreement toward construction and commissioning. Electra targets initial commissioning of selected circuits in late 2026 and commercial production in the fourth quarter of 2027, at an initial capacity of about 5,120 tonnes of contained cobalt a year.

The company recapitalized in 2025 through a lender-supported debt-to-equity conversion and new financing, converting a large portion of its debt into equity. Its audited 2025 financial statements flagged a material uncertainty about the company's ability to continue as a going concern, citing recurring losses and negative operating cash flows. Its exposure is to cobalt refining and midstream processing, positioned as a non-DRC, North American source of battery-grade cobalt for Western supply chains. Electra also holds cobalt-copper exploration ground in the Idaho Cobalt Belt, including the Iron Creek project, and has trialled black-mass battery recycling at the Ontario site.

Critical Elements Lithium is developing the 100%-owned Rose lithium-tantalum project in Québec’s Eeyou Istchee James Bay region. Rose is designed as an open-pit mine and concentrator producing spodumene concentrate with tantalum as a by-product.

The project has a feasibility study, federal and provincial environmental authorizations and a Québec mining lease. Conditional public infrastructure funding and conditional debt support have advanced the financing pathway, but neither represents a final construction decision or completed project financing. Detailed engineering, remaining site work, financing and a final investment decision are required before construction and commercial production can begin.

Anson Resources is an Australian-listed developer of the Paradox and Green River lithium-brine projects in Utah’s Paradox Basin. The projects target subsurface brines and are intended to combine direct lithium extraction with conventional chemical processing to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate, with potential bromine by-products.

Paradox has feasibility-level work, while Green River is being advanced through resource definition, engineering and permitting. Anson has also worked with technology and industrial partners on pilot and demonstration programs. Both projects still require final engineering, financing, construction decisions and successful scale-up before sustained lithium sales.

Blencowe Resources is an AIM-listed graphite developer advancing the Orom-Cross Graphite Project in northern Uganda — the country's most advanced graphite project and one of the few globally to hold a 21-year mining license. The project is characterized by near-surface, free-dig saprolite mineralization requiring no drilling or blasting, consistently producing concentrate grading 96–97% TGC upgradeable to 99.99% TGC. The DFS was published in December 2025, and an optimized commercial model released in May 2026 lifted the post-tax NPV10 by 15% to US$1.254 billion without an increase in development capital. The study work was funded in part by a US$5 million technical grant from the US International Development Finance Corporation.

Blencowe is engaged in the European battery supply chain through the EU SAFELOOP consortium, where Orom-Cross graphite achieved 99.98% purity and passed electrochemical qualification in cells produced by a European battery manufacturer. The DFC grant, EU consortium engagement, and 21-year mining license represent meaningful de-risking for an early-stage AIM-listed developer, and Uganda's political stability relative to peers in the DRC or Guinea is a comparative advantage for Western offtake counterparties with ESG requirements.

Lunnon Metals is an ASX-listed gold and nickel company in Western Australia's Kambalda district. At 30 June 2025, Lunnon reported a nickel portfolio of 4.2 million tonnes at 2.7% nickel for 113,600 tonnes of contained nickel across Foster, Baker, Silver Lake and Fisher. A July 2025 scoping study assessed Baker and Foster, but Lunnon withdrew Baker's ore reserve because BHP's Kambalda concentrator was placed on care and maintenance and no current processing facility is available. Lunnon's March 2026 quarterly report recorded no on-ground nickel activity and described a watching brief on nickel markets. The company began mining the short-life Lady Herial gold open pit in January 2026, so it is an operating gold company with development-stage nickel exposure rather than a current nickel producer.

NextSource Materials is a TSX-listed battery materials company that has achieved first production at its Molo Graphite Mine in southern Madagascar — one of the largest and highest-quality graphite deposits in the world and the only known source of SuperFlake® graphite, a proprietary grade with natural carbon purity of 94–97% Cg achievable with simple flotation. Phase 1 production commenced in June 2023, with first commercial shipments in October 2024 to customers in Germany and the United States.

The company is operating in campaign production mode following disruptions from three cyclones and milling circuit inefficiencies identified in early 2025, limiting current plant capacity to approximately 11,000 tpa. NextSource has pivoted its downstream Battery Anode Facility strategy toward the US market, targeting a modular facility in the southeastern United States to process Molo concentrate into battery-grade anode material, and is engaged in qualification trials with North American battery manufacturers.

Leading Edge Materials is a Canadian micro-cap developer holding a portfolio of European critical raw material assets, most relevantly for graphite investors the fully built and permitted Woxna Graphite Mine in central Sweden — one of the only production-ready graphite facilities in the Western world outside China. Woxna has nameplate capacity of approximately 10,000 tpa of natural flake graphite concentrate at 94–97% Cg, is fully permitted, and has previously been in commercial operation. The company is actively evaluating a restart and completed updated metallurgical testwork in 2025, working with an engineering consultant on a restart study.

The portfolio also includes the Norra Kärr Heavy Rare Earth Element project in Sweden — one of Europe's most significant HREE deposits — for which Leading Edge is advancing permitting. The combination of a restart-ready graphite mine and a strategic HREE project in a politically stable EU jurisdiction makes Leading Edge an unusual asset-backed micro-cap play on European critical mineral supply chain development, though the company's small market cap reflects the financing and execution risks of restarting both assets.

NOA Lithium Brines is a Canadian-listed developer focused on the 100%-owned Rio Grande salar project in Salta, Argentina. The company controls approximately 37,000 hectares at Rio Grande and also holds earlier-stage interests at the Arizaro and Salinas Grandes salars.

Rio Grande contains measured, indicated and inferred lithium-brine resources. A preliminary economic assessment released in October 2025 outlined a two-phase development ultimately targeting about 40,000 tonnes a year of lithium carbonate equivalent, beginning with a smaller first phase. NOA is advancing technical work toward a pre-feasibility study and has no reserve, construction decision or commercial production.

European Metals Holdings is a lithium developer whose principal asset is a 49% interest in the Cinovec lithium-tin project in the Czech Republic. The project is held through the Geomet joint venture, with Czech state-controlled utility ČEZ owning the remaining 51%, so resources, study economics and planned production are gross project figures unless stated on an attributable basis.

A definitive feasibility study completed in December 2025 outlined annual production of about 37,500 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate, alongside tin by-products. The Czech government has approved a grant of up to €360 million toward development. Cinovec remains in permitting and financing and has not reached construction or commercial production; the grant and completed study support the development pathway but do not replace a final investment decision.

Greenwing Resources is an ASX-listed company whose graphite asset is the Graphmada complex in Madagascar, a 62 Mt resource that produced concentrate previously and has been on care and maintenance while the company assesses expansion and partnership pathways. A Stage 2 scoping study has been commenced and an A$5.5 million raising completed in 2026 funds work programs across its assets. Greenwing is diversified rather than a graphite pure play, also holding the San Jorge lithium brine project in Argentina and the Que River polymetallic project in Tasmania.

Century Lithium is developing the 100%-owned Angel Island sedimentary lithium project in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The planned operation would mine lithium-bearing claystone and process it on site using hydrochloric-acid leaching, direct lithium extraction and an integrated chlor-alkali circuit to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate.

A 2026 feasibility study uses proven and probable reserves containing approximately 1.76 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent and models average annual production of about 26,500 tonnes over its initial 40-year economic schedule. The company has operated a pilot plant for several years and produced high-purity lithium carbonate, but Angel Island remains in permitting and development. Detailed engineering, financing and a construction decision are still required before commercial production.

Focus Graphite is a TSXV-listed developer of the Lac Knife project near Fermont, Québec, one of the higher-grade flake graphite deposits in North America, alongside the Lac Tétépisca property. Work through 2026 was concentrated on permitting and infrastructure, including an access road route study, a WSP-led dam break study and an air quality assessment feeding the environmental assessment, supported by C$1.38 million of non-dilutive funding from Natural Resources Canada's First and Last Mile Fund.

Jindalee Lithium is an Australian-listed developer of the 100%-owned McDermitt sedimentary lithium project in Malheur County, Oregon. The project contains a large lithium-carbonate-equivalent resource within clay-rich volcanic sediments near the Nevada border.

A November 2024 pre-feasibility study defined a probable reserve of approximately 2.34 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent and modeled production of about 44,300 tonnes of lithium carbonate a year. McDermitt has received FAST-41 permitting status and federal research support, but it remains pre-construction and requires environmental review, engineering, financing and a final investment decision. In April 2026 Jindalee's wholly owned US subsidiary HiTech Minerals signed a business combination agreement with Constellation Acquisition Corp I to list the McDermitt assets on NASDAQ as US Elemental Inc., at an implied equity value of US$500 million, with Jindalee retaining more than 80% of the combined company and closing subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. We covered the terms in our US Elemental IPO preview.

Cobalt Blue Holdings (ASX: COB) is an Australian cobalt developer and minerals processor. Its 100%-owned Broken Hill Cobalt Project in New South Wales is a pyrite-hosted, cobalt-led deposit that also contains nickel and is designed to produce saleable elemental sulfur, and for which the company is preparing an updated pre-feasibility study targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026. The company is pre-production.

Cobalt Blue's primary near-term objective is the proposed Kwinana Cobalt Refinery in Western Australia, a multi-feed facility intended to produce battery-grade cobalt sulfate and cobalt metal and advancing toward a final investment decision under a pre-FID consortium with Iwatani Australia. The company reported in March 2026 that JV documentation and operational plans remained pending. Its portfolio also includes the Broken Hill Technology Centre. The company positions its Australian location and midstream-processing strategy as a way to diversify cobalt supply outside the DRC, though Broken Hill is cobalt-led and still carries nickel.

Lithium Africa is a TSX Venture-listed hard-rock lithium explorer with licenses across South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, Guinea, Mali and Zimbabwe. Much of its West African portfolio is held through a 50:50 exploration joint venture with Ganfeng Lithium, giving Lithium Africa an indirect 50% interest in those properties rather than full ownership.

Its principal programs are at Springbok in South Africa and Adzopé in Côte d’Ivoire. In July 2026 South African regulators granted Section 11 consent for Lithium Africa to complete a 70% acquisition of the company holding the Springbok mineral rights; the remaining legal transfer formalities were still under way. Drilling at Springbok and Adzopé is intended to define the scale and continuity of pegmatite mineralization. No project had a mineral resource, reserve or commercial production as of August 2026.

LE Minerals, renamed from Lithium Energy in May 2026, is an ASX-listed explorer whose graphite exposure sits in Axon Graphite. In May 2026 it agreed a conditional A$20 million sale of that business, with part of the consideration tied to the buyer's proposed IPO, and was still publishing updates on the disposal in June 2026. It is listed here while the transaction is pending; if it completes and the retained exposure is immaterial, the company comes off.

Prairie Lithium is an Australian-listed developer of the 100%-owned Prairie brine project in Saskatchewan’s Williston Basin. The company, formerly Arizona Lithium, adopted the Prairie Lithium name and ASX ticker PL9 in September 2025 to reflect its principal asset.

The project covers approximately 345,000 acres and contains a reported indicated resource of about 4.6 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent. Its first development step is a permitted Pad 1 facility using direct lithium extraction, with an initial unit designed for approximately 150 tonnes a year of lithium carbonate equivalent. Construction and commissioning were under way with first output targeted for late 2026. Larger-scale development would require replication, operating validation and further capital.

Wealth Minerals Ltd. is a Canada-based lithium exploration company focused on brine assets in Chile’s Salar de Atacama and surrounding salars. The company holds early-stage concessions prospective for lithium-bearing brines and is advancing exploration and permitting activities within Chile’s evolving regulatory framework for lithium development. As a junior explorer, progress is primarily dependent on securing partnerships and advancing resource definition in a competitive jurisdiction.

South Star Battery Metals is a TSXV-listed operator of the Santa Cruz graphite mine in southern Bahia, Brazil, the newest flake graphite operation in the Americas. The plant reached a stable regime producing 95% carbon flake concentrate by mid-2026, and the company reported completion of customer qualification and a first commercial purchase order in August 2026. A three-phase modular expansion towards 50,000 tpa is planned.

Black Rock Mining is an ASX-listed developer of the Mahenge graphite project in Tanzania's Ulanga district, in which it holds 84%. Mahenge carries a mineral resource of 213 Mt at 7.8% TGC and an ore reserve of 70.5 Mt at 8.5% TGC, and is designed as a staged four-module build. Early works covering the access road, resettlement and transmission line survey ran through the first half of 2026, with construction dependent on full funding and a final investment decision.

E-Power Inc, renamed from Sunrise New Energy in February 2026, is a Nasdaq-listed Cayman holding company whose operating business produces synthetic graphite anode material in Guizhou, China. The structure matters to the exposure: shareholders own the Cayman company rather than the operating entities, and E-Power holds a 39.35% economic interest in the Guizhou and Anhui operating companies. Graphite anode material was 99.84% of revenue in FY2025 at US$46.3 million, down 28% on FY2024 as the average selling price fell 45% while volumes were flat at 37,065 tonnes. The rename accompanied a stated shift toward AI data center microgrid solutions, and the FY2025 annual report discloses substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern.

Green Technology Metals is an ASX-listed lithium developer with hard-rock projects in northwestern Ontario, Canada. Its principal assets are the Seymour and Root projects, supported by the Wisa regional exploration portfolio. Seymour and Root contain indicated and inferred spodumene resources and are being assessed as potential components of a regional mining hub.

The company is advancing drilling, technical studies, environmental work, permitting and engagement with local and Indigenous communities. Its strategy includes the possibility of downstream conversion in Ontario, but no converter is operating and the company has no commercial lithium production. Project sequencing, plant scale and any integrated development configuration remain subject to feasibility work, financing and construction decisions.

Lincoln Minerals is an ASX-listed explorer in South Australia's Gawler Craton whose graphite exposure is the Kookaburra Gully project on the Eyre Peninsula, where a pre-feasibility study has been completed and metallurgical testwork reported in May 2025 showed concentrate could be purified to lithium-ion anode specification. The company has become increasingly copper-led, completing air core drilling at the Minbrie copper project during the June 2026 quarter, so graphite is one exposure within a diversified critical minerals portfolio rather than the whole business.

GCM Corporation is an ASX-listed company that changed its name from Green Critical Minerals in July 2026. It holds 80% of the McIntosh graphite project in Western Australia, where a pre-feasibility study completed in June 2025 returned a post-tax internal rate of return above 25%. Separately it is commercializing a very high density graphite product as heat sinks for data center, electronics and EV-infrastructure cooling, so the investment case is now split between a graphite deposit and a materials-technology business.

Sarytogan Graphite is an ASX-listed developer of the 100%-owned Sarytogan deposit in central Kazakhstan, a 225 Mt resource at 29.2% TGC that is microcrystalline rather than flake, which changes both the processing route and the product mix relative to most peers on this page. A pre-feasibility study completed in August 2024 set out a staged development producing an industrial-grade product alongside ultra-high-purity fines and spherical graphite. Reserve definition drilling and a definitive feasibility study continued through 2026, with completion targeted for the fourth quarter.