HI there,
In terms of Lithium producers - Lithium of America (LAC) is one of the best in class. I'd consider them a top tier lithium play with Orocobre (ORL).
Many of the lithium companies are in early stages of development or pureplay explorers. LAC is development the world-class CaucharÃ-Olaroz project in Argentina. It is a joint project with one of the world's top Lithium producers, China's Ganfeng Lithium. The company expects construction to be complete by end of 2021 with first production in early 2022 and output capacity is estimated at 40,000 metric tons per year.
The good news is that it is also expected to be full funded through to production - so it should be able to get there without issue new shares.
It also has 100% ownership of the THatcher Pass project which is expected to have annual production capacity of 60,000 metric tons. They are still a number of years away from production at this Nevada project.
ALthough it is close to production, it still carries considerable risk. Still a long road ahead for this company to start generating revenue. By the time it does, it will also be dependent on lithium carbonite prices which are hovering around five year lows.
I'd consider this to be a speculative play, that will carry addition risk - approach with caution.
Mat