Summary:
- The Vulcan pilot plant team has successfully achieved target specification for Direct Lithium xtraction (DLE) feed into its pilot plant.
- The pilot plant team has also achieved target recovery of greater than 90% for lithium chloride from Upper Rhine Valley brine.
- The Vulcan laboratory team has successfully demonstrated, via the first step of test work, post-treated DLE brine to be materiallythe same composition, within analytical error, as production brine, excluding extracted lithium and silica. This is in line with Vulcan’s strict environmental focus.
- Next steps will include:
- Ramp up of DLE pilot plant to 24/7 operation.
- Production of lithium chloride solution to be converted to lithium hydroxide.
- Production of samples for potential customers/offtakers.
- Further work on post-treatment of brine.
Managing Director, Dr. Francis Wedin, commented: “The latest update from our laboratory and pilot plant lithium extraction teams in Germany shows good progress has been achieved in a very short space of time. We will aim to continue this momentum and to continue to rapidly de-risk and scale-up our lithium extraction process in the months to come, as we execute on our strategy to deliver our Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project into production for the European battery electric vehicle market.
With the International Energy Agency last week declaring the need for annual battery production of 6,600 GWh by 2030, implying an annual lithium chemicals requirement of 22 times current total global production, Vulcan is leading the charge to reduce large carbon emissions currently embodied in the traditional production of lithium. The team at Vulcan is highly motivated to ensure that the global transition to renewables, energy storage and electric mobility is conducted in a sustainable, net zero manner, and we are channelling this motivation into systematically executing on our Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project.”