Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) - An emerging lithium play with substance

There is little doubt that lithium remains the hottest commodity within the resource sector at the present time. Along these lines, Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) remains our stand-out exposure - despite having already risen by 280% since our initial coverage just seven months ago. Importantly, there's more to the story than just speculative hype - with the keys to the company's success being largely fundamental. It boasts a high-quality,large-scale lithium project situated in a low-risk jurisdiction, with appraisal activity resulting in rapid project advancement. Over recent months the company has released a robust project Pre-Feasiblity Study (PFS), implemented a $100m equity raising to fund project development, and released further drilling results that point to a significantly enhanced resource position. We anticipate the release of the project Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) during July 2016, with first production planned for 2018.