Torque Metals (ASX: TOR) shares are up 23% again. The latest news from the company was about the lithium drilling results. Which were, you know, interesting even if not stunningly so. The process of hunting for hard rock lithium runs, as we’ve said before, through having to find the right kind of rock - pegmatites - which then contain the right mineral - spodumene - and then the mineral has to contain appreciable levels of lithium. Finally, there needs to be enough of it there to make it worthwhile digging a hole and building a processing plant.
So, from the latest results, Torque is about halfway through that process: “In the announcement dated 15 November 2023 “High-Grade Lithium Intercepts at New Dawn”, Torque Metals Limited (ASX: TOR) (the “Company”), provided an update of its inaugural diamond and reverse circulation drilling campaign at the New Dawn Lithium Project (“New Dawn”). This announcement provides amendments to that previous announcement by
presenting tables with estimates of the abundance of mineral interpreted to be spodumene observed under UV light in drill chip trays from several of the RC drill holes.” We know they’ve found pegmatites. Here we’ve initial indications of spodumene. They’re hesitant, at this stage, to say definitely spod, but that’s because of the level of proof required for a stock market announcement. It’s spod. What no one knows as yet is the lithium content - not how much there is in total.
Torque Metals share price from Google Finance
Any true and sustained increase in corporate valuation is going to come with further proof. After all, look at what happened in September and beyond. As we said about Torque Metals: “Torque Metals (ASX: TOR) shares are up 172% today. The TOR share price leaping this much is the result of a deal announced for an option on a prospective lithium property. It has to be said that the prospects for this package of tenements are good - but they are, still, only prospects. There’s a great deal of proof that still needs to go into showing that this is going to be economic to mine.” And then about TOR shares: “Torque Metals (ASX: TOR) shares are down 58% today. TOR shares have fallen just as fast as they rose 6 weeks back - and on the same deal too. What was - that 6 weeks ago - thought to be a very interesting and opportunistic deal now turns out to not be all that exciting. So, the excitement value of the deal from 6 weeks about vanishes. That’s just the way it happens sometimes.”
Hard and solid evidence - the chemistry of that spodumene, say - will produce solid changes in the share price. Until then it’ll be febrile as hopes and wishes move the price.
