Shares in Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) are soaring today, despite no news having been released by the company. At the time of writing, the Pilbara Minerals share price is $1.45 – 7.56% higher than its previous closing price.
For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has gained 1.65% today.
Also impressive is the number of the lithium miner's shares being traded today.
It's the day's most traded ASX 200 stock by far, with nearly 20 million of the company's shares having swapped hands since the ASX opened this morning.
Let's take a look at what Pilbara Minerals has been up to lately.
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The latest news from Pilbara Minerals
The last time the ASX heard price sensitive news from Pilbara Minerals was on 11 May, when the company announced it intends to enter a joint venture with technology company Calix Ltd (ASX: CXL).
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to partner to develop a midstream lithium chemicals refinery.
The first step of development will be a scoping study that will assess a new refining process.
Currently, Pilbara Minerals processes its mined ore into spodumene before shipping it to customers who then produce lithium for lithium-ion batteries.
If the companies can fine tune the refining process, Pilbara Minerals could produce lithium in-house – creating an Australian lithium-ion supply chain.
Despite the seemingly positive news, the Pilbara Minerals share price fell 3.82% lower on the day the news was released.
Luckily, it's since bounced back.
Pilbara Minerals share price snapshot
It's been a bumper year so far for the Pilbara Minerals share price.
As The Motley Fool Australia reported earlier today, it's currently 2021's best performing mining share of the ASX 200.
Right now, the Pilbara Minerals share price has gained 66% year to date. It is also a whopping 456% higher than it was this time last year.
The company has a market capitalisation of around $3.9 billion, with approximately 2.9 billion shares outstanding.
