Supply disruptions https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/economy/coronavirus-halts-lithium-expansion-in-argentina-and-chile.phtml
Interesting movements on the lithium market. Essentially the news is so bad for near term lithium demand (especially related to China contraction) that a number of projects have been put on hold, especially those with direct Chinese involvement. Meanwhile, Argentina is on the verge of economic meltdown (again) and both Argentina and Chile are seeing real problems related to the pandemic, delaying existing projects. Add to this the fact that Chile's salars are in a major water deficit. Brine lithium consumes something in the order of two tons of water for every kilogram of lithium, and the water is just not there.
The bottom line is that the effects on the supply side seem to be overtaking the shorter term price depression. Unlike hardrock deposits, brines take many years to bring online, meaning that today's project problems are changing the whole structural picture for the supply side.
It's a case at the moment where a rising tide is lifting all ships. The hardrock mining projects have a comparative advantage at the moment. The jump in Frontier today is part of a general reaction in the lithium market to some of the stories coming out. Essentially, the tech market is doing quite well, and the lithium supply news is bad. The disconnect has triggered the idea that there may be a structural shortage looming in the longer term. Vertainly the prospect of banking on the stability of Argentina versus the availability of Chilean water in the driest desert in the world leads us to consider that maybe the hardrock deposits actually do have a brighter future.