Shares of Millennial Lithium Corp (TSX.V:ML) traded up 12.4% at the open on Wednesday to an intraday high of C$1.92, lifting the Vancouver-based company's market capitalization to over C$150 million. Over 120,000 shares were traded by early afternoon, almost three times the average session volume.
Earlier, the company released an updated resource estimate for its Pastos Grandes lithium project in Salta, Argentina. The project now contains 4.12Mt lithium carbonate equivalent and 15.3Mt potash equivalent in Measured and Indicated resource. Inferred resource has also increased to 798,000t lithium carbonate equivalent and 2.97Mt potash equivalent.
The resource estimate is based on over 15,000 metres of drilling across 33 holes and represents a near 100% increase over the previous 2017 resource estimate. The company expects to table a feasibility study and build a pilot processing plant at the project site by the end of 2019's second quarter.
Pastos Grandes is Millennial Lithium's flagship project and covers over 8,600 hectares in the Argentina portion of the South American Lithium Triangle. Earlier this year, the company produced battery-grade lithium from the Pastos Grandes brine. The project is about two years away from production.
Currently, the battery-grade spot price for lithium carbonate is $10,400-$11,700 per tonne according to Fastmarkets, down almost 50% from this time last year.