Accelerating the transition to Clean Energy - Lithium

A few weeks ago it became clear to me that the invasion of Iran would (or now has) accelerate the transition to clean energy. The logic of it is straight forward: if the price of fossil fuels increases, then the uptake of clean energy would accelerate. In addition, with the supply of fossil fuels potentially being disrupted, this might cause people, businesses and governments to accelerate even faster. This logic appears to be backed up with observations: everyone I know is looking at buying an EV and governments are now taking more about being more self sufficient when it comes to energy (which only clean energy can provide). 

As the uptake of clean energy accelerates, the companies that are exposed to clean energy should see demand and pricing power increase and their profit increase. This was also confirmed by observation - we enquired about buying a second EV and got told there'd be a 6 month wait, and that price was going up. 

So, great time to invest clean energy stocks. Fortunately things move slowly and the share price of most clean energy companies hadn't gone up much at the time and have only increased slightly since. Over a a few weeks in late March / early April I made large investments in a number of existing and new clean energy related companies. In this post I'll focus on the lithium related investments that were made.

Lithium 

Because the oil price increase was the most immediate and most significant symptom of the invasion, batteries and lithium seemed like the most obvious beneficiary: Electric Vehicle and energy storage uptake increases > battery uptake increases > 99% of EV batteries are based on lithium > lithium demand increases. Investing upstream of EVs, in batteries and lithium means I don't have to guess which EV manufacturers will do well - so long as EV uptake increases in aggregate lithium producers should do well.

Liontown Resources (LTR.ASX)

The biggest investment I made was purchasing additional shares in Liontown Resources LTR.ASX (their mine pictured at the top of the page). Liontown own the Kathleen Valley lithium mine in Western Australia, producing spodumene concentrate from what is the first major underground lithium mine in the world that just came online.

The mine is mostly powered by a giant wind farm, solar and batteries - recently hitting >90% renewable energy for a month, another world first for a mine of this scale. This gives Liontown a low cost of energy and a smaller exposure to fossil fuel prices relative their peers.

At current spodumene prices the mine is highly profitable and production volumes are ramping up. In FY27, they are projected to produce 500 kt of spodumene concentrate, which would give them a gross profit of over $1B for the year. If volumes and/or prices increase this number gets bigger. With a current market capitalisation of $7B the company appears to be cheap.

Core Lithium (CXO.ASX)

I also purchased additional shares in Core Lithium CXO.ASX, which operates the Finniss Project in the Northern Territory. This is a classic 'swing' producer - operating when lithium prices are high and shutting down when they are low. The swing producers can often be bought cheap relative to the already producing companies and if prices are high, can still make money despite higher production costs.

After a period of care and maintenance during the market downturn, the company has recently pivoted back toward production, awarding a major mining contract to restart open-pit operations as of May 2026. With funding now secured through strategic deals Core is targeting its first spodumene concentrate shipment by the end of 2026. While smaller than Kathleen Valley, Finniss benefits from being the only lithium operation in Australia with a functional processing plant located so close to a capital city and port (Darwin), keeping logistics simple as they ramp back up to a projected 134 kt of concentrate in 2027.

Argosy Minerals (AGY.ASX)

Another swing producer is Argosy Minerals AGY.ASX, which provides exposure to South American brine through their Rincon Project in Argentina. Unlike the hard-rock mines in Australia, Argosy uses a proprietary chemical process to produce high-purity lithium carbonate directly.

They are currently scaling from a successful pilot phase into a steady 2,000 tpa (tonnes per annum) commercial operation. While the scale is modest compared to the giants, the key value here lies in their "Stage 3" expansion plans to reach 10,000 tpa lithium carbonate (much more valuable than spodumene concentrate). As a low-cost brine producer in the "Lithium Triangle," Argosy offers a different risk-reward profile, particularly as they move toward becoming a consistent cash-flow generator in FY27.

Lithium Americas (LAC.NYSE)

I also purchased additional shares in Lithium Americas LAC.NYSE, which is developing the Thacker Pass project in Nevada—the largest known lithium resource in the United States. This is a strategic play on the "onshoring" of the American battery supply chain (yes, I believe Americans will eventually buy electric cars). American industries are highly protected and lithium is likely to be no different, making this mine potentially more valuable.

The project is currently in the thick of major construction, with over 1,800 workers expected on-site by late 2026 and mechanical completion of Phase 1 targeted for late 2027. While it isn't producing cash flow yet like Liontown, the massive backing from the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors makes it a corner-stone asset for the North American market. With a market cap significantly lower than its peak, it represents a long-term bet on the shift toward domestic energy independence

More to come on other major investments made. Check out all current holdings and performance here - Investments