ASX lithium shares have shown tremendous volatility in the past 12 months. Most of this stems from the price of lithium itself collapsing around 72% from its previous highs in June 2023.
Despite this there's some light in the ASX lithium basket today, with two shares catching a bid on positive announcements – Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) and Latin Resources Ltd (ASX: LRS).
Lake Resources is trading 5% higher at 3.6 cents per share at the time of writing. Meanwhile, Latin Resources had surged 3% higher on the day but now trades flat at 15.55 cents apiece.
Let's dive into the announcements.
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ASX lithium share raises $2.5 Million
Lake Resources announced a successful $2.5 million capital raise through an at-the-market subscription agreement with Acuity Capital. The firm is said to specialise in these kinds of transactions.
The capital raise involved issuing 65 million fully paid Lake Resources ordinary shares at an issue price of 3.85 cents apiece. This is slightly below the 15-day volume-weighted average price of 3.88 cents, according to the update.
Funds raised from the agreement will be used to bolster Lake Resources' balance sheet, the ASX lithium share says, allowing it to focus on works at its Kachi project. Per the company:
The funds will be used to strengthen the Company's balance sheet as it continues progressing (i) its ongoing strategic priorities for Kachi and (ii) the potential sale of non-core assets and lithium tenements located in Jujuy and Catamarca Provinces as outlined in the Company's announcement dated 1 July 2024.
Despite today's action, the ASX lithium share is down more than 84% in the last 12 months.
Latin Resources reports drilling results
In a separate update, ASX lithium player Latin Resources reported drilling results from its Planalto Prospect. The site is located at Latin's fully owned Salinas Lithium Project in Brazil.
The latest drilling results have confirmed a thick, high-grade core of mineralisation extending down dip and up-plunge to the southwest.
Notably, one drill hole named SADD320 revealed a resource depth of more than 16 metres, with concentrations of 2.18% lithium (Li2O) from a depth of 293 metres.
The company plans to release a preliminary mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Planalto Prospect in Q3 CY 2024, pending all assay results.
Tony Greenaway, VP of operations for the Americas at Latin Resources, highlighted the similarities between the Planalto and the company's Colina deposit, also located at the Salinas site.
While the stacked pegmatite lenses at Planalto show a shallower dip to those at Colina, the coarse grained Spodumene only mineralisation is consistent with what we see at Colina. The latest drilling has highlighted an up-dip trend to the high-grade core of mineralisation which will now become the focus of additional drilling.
Bell Potter recently expressed a bullish outlook on the ASX lithium share, citing the company's potential to deliver new lithium supply into structurally short markets.
The broker has a speculative buy rating on Latin Resources shares, with a price target of 40 cents.
Foolish takeaway
Following today's updates, these two ASX lithium players have caught investor attention. Latin Resources stock is down more than 56% in the past 12 months, with Lake shares ahead of that.
With the price of lithium at a low, the outlook for the sector remains mixed.
