Shares in Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) are in the green today and are trading up around 5% at 62 cents apiece.
Core Lithium's share price has made a recovery on the chart during the rollover into 2022, bouncing from a low of 49.5 cents in late December.
This reversal to the upside is a welcomed turn following a sluggish period for Core Lithium, as shares were gradually marching downwards in the 3 months prior.
Alas, since Christmas, Core Lithium has made a recovery and is now trading back near 52-week closing highs of 64.5 cents reached back in November.
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Why is the Core Lithium share price charging higher?
Let's zoom out for a second and examine a wider time frame, say 12 months. In that time, Core Lithium has climbed almost 265% after rallying 18% across December.
There's been plenty of support for Core lithium on various pullbacks during the last single year period to date, including at the most recent bout of volatility.
As a result of the December rally, shares are trading back within the longer-term uptrend that's been in situ this last year.
Furthermore, the company advised it has executed an option agreement to purchase six granted Mineral Licences (MLs) that include over 30 historic pegmatite mines last month.
The MLs are adjacent to pegmatites at the company's Finniss Lithium Project near Darwin in the Northern Territory. Each of the tenements have a history of tin and tantalum mining and production, Core Lithium says.
The flagship Finniss Project lies within one of the most prospective areas for lithium in the NT – the Bynoe Pegmatite Field – and covers over 500km2 of granted tenements.
Core Lithium expects to commence construction at Finniss before the end of 2021, subject to market conditions and a final investment decision. First production at the site is anticipated before the end of 2022, the company says.
What else could be at play?
Aside from these points, the price of lithium continues to thrust higher in 2022 as strong demand and tightening supply for the battery metal ensures that prices maintain their cyclical upswing.
Lithium went parabolic from this time last year and has maintained the heat ever since. Over the last 12 months, the price of the battery metal has soared over 104% to now trade at 277,500 Chinese Yuan per tonne, another record high.
Prices in the spot and futures markets took off once again in December, climbing 38% in that time alone, as the momentum spills over into the new year.
On the demand side, uptake of lithium-style batteries has been driven by the world's newfound thirst for electromobility.
For instance, electric vehicle sales are thought to have spiked by 160% globally during 2021, according to analysis from Trading Economics. Meanwhile, China still leads the way in the EV segment, where deliveries are expected to double in 2022 to over 5 million sales.
Core Lithium is an ASX resource share that has direct exposure to the commodity through its Finniss Project. Therefore its movements in its share price are likely to correlate with volatility in the commodity markets.
Considering this relationship and the most recent rally in the price of lithium, the picture begins to form as to what might be garnering interest in the Core Lithium share price.
