Vulcan Energy starts its first lithium chloride production in Germany

Vulcan Energy Resources

10/04/2024 22:00

By Riham Alkousaa
       BERLIN, April 10 (Reuters) - Lithium supplier Vulcan
Energy  VUL.AX  on Wednesday announced the start of production
of the first lithium chloride at its extraction plant in Germany
using geothermal energy, an essential step toward producing
battery-grade lithium hydroxide.
    "To the best of our knowledge, it is the first locally
produced resource, meaning that the lithium comes from Germany,
from the resource underneath our feet," Vulcan Energy Chief
Executive Cris Moreno told Reuters.
    Vulcan Energy has obtained licences for more than 1,000
kilometres of land in Germany's Upper Rhine Valley region to
extract super-hot lithium-rich brine from underground
reservoirs, using the heat to produce electricity and draw out
lithium from the brine. 
    The European Union has set targets to dig up, recycle and
refine lithium, cobalt and other metals it needs for its green
transition, but a shortage of new money, crippling energy costs
and local opposition could put them beyond reach.
    The German government has created a 1.1 billion-euro 
investment fund to fortify the nation’s access to critical raw
materials essential for high-tech and green projects, Vulcan
Energy said in February.
    The company, which is listed both in Australia and
Frankfurt, already has offtake agreements with automakers
including Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE , Stellantis  STLAM.MI  and
Renault  RENA.PA . It said its Lithium Extraction Optimization
Plant in Landau, Germany, showed strong early results, with
lithium extraction efficiency consistently above 90%.
    The results, following three years of in-house piloting,
replicate what Vulcan has seen in its lab and pilot plant
operations, and are in line with its commercial plant
expectations and Vulcan's financing model, the company added.
     Vulcan's lithium chloride output will be converted into
battery-grade lithium hydroxide at the company's new conversion
plant in Frankfurt in the second half of the year, Moreno said.
    The company is raising funds for its first large- scale
industrial plant, with an expected annual output of 24,000
tonnes of lithium hydroxide, equivalent to 500,000 electric
vehicles, to be commissioned by the end of 2026.
    "We're looking to close the financing in the next probably
four to five months," Moreno added.
    In February, Vulcan Energy said it passed the preliminary
examination of the European Investment Bank (EIB) for debt
financing of up to 500 million euros ($537.15 million). 
 ($1 = 0.9308 euro)

 (Reporting by Riham Alkousaa in Berlin
Editing by Matthew Lewis)
 ((Riham.Alkousaa@thomsonreuters.com;))