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Dig for lithium exposure beyond the ASX: PrimaryMarkets
While the rise of electric vehicles across the globe has fueled demand for lithium and other metals crucial to the construction of EV vehicle batteries, most stock exposure has come via the unilateral path of the dominant exchange in the country of investors. Yet there are other avenues, according to PrimaryMarkets executive chair Jamie Green (pictured).
Green’s group provides a platform for wholesale investors – those with net assets of $2.5million or income of $250,000 for the two previous years – a means to trade securities in unlisted companies. Launched in 2016, the platform has amassed over 100,000 user investors across 119 countries.
Green says companies linked to Lithium are proving increasingly popular on the platform as interest in Lithium increases and investors search for alternative ways to access undervalued holdings.
“Several critical minerals focused companies are currently accessible via PrimaryMarkets,” he notes, before revealing two such companies that sit on its platform.
“The first one is Lava Blue Ltd which is currently focused on high purity Alumina. It has multiple use cases including LEDs, ceramic separators in lithium and other batteries and as a substrate for high performance semiconductors and computer chips.
“The second company is High Purity Quartz Limited, offering exposure to high-purity quartz whose end product applications include memory chips and semiconductors, fibre optics and solar PV cells.”
One of the most challenging aspects of the critical minerals sector is the supply chains they depend on, which are often geographically concentrated and vulnerable to war and political machinations. China, for example, dominates the supply of rare earth elements, which most modern technologies depend on to a certain degree.
Any disruption in these supply chains, which can also stem from environmental factors, can have a severely detrimental effect on the industries that depend on them. The pandemic served to underline this systemic fragility.
“The supply chain vulnerabilities, coupled with the importance of these minerals, make them a focal point for resource strategies and government funding in many nations, including Australia,” Green says.
“Understanding the importance of critical minerals prompts the need for diversified supply chains, increased recycling efforts and innovative extraction methods. Collaboration between governments, industries and researchers will pave the way for a future where critical minerals support technological advancement without compromising the environment or human rights.
As the world transitions to advanced and more eco-friendly technology, ensuring investors have diversified access to investment in critical minerals like lithium will be crucial.
“Balancing demand with responsible sourcing will be one of the paramount challenges of the coming decades,” Green says.
“By providing a trading and capital raising platform for unlisted companies PrimaryMarkets effectively breaks down traditional barriers, providing liquidity solutions and promoting transparency.”
