Is this a gamechanger for the lithium industry?

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In 2018 there were four new spodumene operations. But in China, General Lithium Corp. is planning a new mineral ore converter project that will triple production capacity for lithium by the end of 2020.

The plant will take in spodumene and convert it into lithium—60,000 tons per year, according to company estimates. That's from 135,000 tons of spodumene.

As we mentioned before, Canadian hard-rock miner Power Metals (TSXV: PWM; OTC:PWRMF) has drilled approximately 15,000 meters at its very valuable Case Lake

Property in North-East Ontario. In fact, Power Metals drilled more than any other hard rock lithium company in North America last year. The size of its deposits are quite impressive and easy to mine as they are concentrated very close to the surface. The average grade is also world class, and at approximately

1.75% Li20 with intervals as high as 3.5%, it competes directly with projects like Greenbushes in Australia, the world's largest operating hard-rock lithium mine.

Next to the prolific Case Lake project, Power Metals is also developing the Paterson Lake and Gullwing Tot Lake properties in Ontario, which, according to its

VP of exploration Julie Selway, could be the next gamechanging hard-rock lithium plays in Canada.

Power Metals is just one example of this new trend in the lithium space. The entire sector is being transformed from within, and with prices stabilizing there are plenty of opportunities for investors in 2019.

A lithium renaissance is well and truly underway, and it is hard-rock miners who find themselves at the forefront of this movement.