Australia's Vulcan seeks investors for German lithium expansion project, courts Asian interests

HOCHTIEF AG

03/09/2026 07:41

By Melanie Burton and Shravya Marakini
Sept 3 (Reuters) - Lithium developer Vulcan Energy Resources VUL.AX on Thursday announced phase two of its lithium project in Germany's Upper Rhine Valley and commenced process to bring in additional strategic investors.
Funding efforts for the second phase, Project Ludwig, are being launched as construction gets underway on the project's first phase, Lionheart.
     
Here are the details:
Vulcan will produce mainly EV battery-grade lithium chemicals using geothermal brine and also provide renewable heating.
The Perth-headquartered company owns 86% of the first phase of the project, Project Lionheart, while the remaining 14% is owned by the German government-backed Federal Raw Materials Fund.
Vulcan also owns 85% of Project Ludwig, while existing investors German industrial conglomerate Siemens SIEGn.DE , construction group Hochtief HOTG.DE and investment firm DemEA hold the remaining 15%.
The company is now launching a process to bring in additional minority strategic investors
"We are looking for strategic investors to take a minority stake at the asset level. Phase one investors were very Eurocentric. For phase two we have interest from European investors but of the unsolicited interest, a lot is coming from Asia," Executive Chair Francis Wedin told Reuters.
Vulcan's search for a strategic investor comes as Asian battery and EV makers establish supply chains in Europe. World's largest EV battery maker CATL 300750.SZ, raised about $4.6 billion in a Hong Kong listing in 2025, saying most of the proceeds would fund a battery plant in Hungary as part of its overseas expansion strategy.
 With the Vulcan's stock down 41.5% year-to-date and closing at A$2.610, near its 52-week low, the search for a strategic investor comes at a key juncture as the company looks to mitigate risk through partnerships

 (Reporting by Shravya Marakini in Bengaluru and Melanie Burton in Melbourne; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
 ((Shravya.Marakini@thomsonreuters.com;))