I have previously conjectured that the fall in lithium prices is sort of a 2 edged sword that cuts more on the wannabees than it does the Major lithium producers and those few "in development" lithium mining companies, like LAC, that are within sight of the finish line to become "in production".

OK, the present LAC Thacker Pass Goal Line is sometime in 2027, but compared to where the majority of the wannabees are along the Gauntlet I think it is fair to say that LAC is much nearer to the end of the Gauntlet line than 90's of the Johnnie Come Latelies.

Bottom line:  that 2 edges sword is laying waste to some plans of the the wannabees and even to some of the Majors.

To wit:

"The sharp decline in lithium prices has led to mine shutdowns. Adelaide-based Core Lithium announced back in January that due to "weak market conditions" it was suspending mining at its Finniss site near Darwin, with the loss of 150 jobs.

Then in August, US firm Albemarle said it would be scaling back production at its Kemerton lithium processing plant, located some 170km (100 miles) south of Perth. This is expected to lead to more than 300 redundancies.

Arcadium Lithium followed suit this month, announcing that it would be mothballing its Mt Cattlin mine in Western Australia, blaming low prices. The firm’s shares are listed in both the US and Australia."

See the full article:  Australia's lithium mining boom hit by sagging prices (msn.com)

It isn't all gloom and doom for Australia's lithium mining companies, however, as Australia takes initial steps to transform itself from shiping all partially processed spodumene to China toward establishing final lithium processing facilities in Australia where the conversion to lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide will occur domestically instead of being literally shipped off to China.

Not all lithium mining companies in Australia are cutting back production, some are even making plans for expansion and this is covered in that same article, but many of the mines in Australia are in production whereas both in the U.S. and to a less extent in South America there are an abundance of wannabees much earlier in the running of the Gauntlet.  Same for Cnada and Europe, lots of obstacles still to overcome and at a critical time when they are focusing to trying to obtain more $$ to finance their journey.

Carboncredits gives tooday's lithium carbonate price at:  $10,705.37 per metric ton

Lithium Prices Today, Lithium Price Charts • Carbon Credits

Investing.com gave yesterday's close at:  72,500 Yuan (USD = $10,338.50 per metric ton

Both values were for 99.5%, EV Battery Grade, Lithium Carbonate.

Lithium Carbonate 99.5%Min China Spot Price Today - Investing.com

Dailymetalprice.com gave yesterday's close price for 99.5% Lithium Carbonate as:  $10,339.50

Daily Metal Price: Lithium Price (USD / Metric Ton) for the Last Day

The week and the 2 week chart shown on Daily Metal Price were both encouraging and "Up and to the Right".

Onward?

Okiedo