Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL) has become the first company to produce lithium chemicals from a local source in Europe – in this case, from their Lithium Extraction Optimisation Plant (LEOP) in Germany – for use in the local market.
Production began at the plant to produce lithium chloride (LiCl) product at the plant, with early results indicating the product to be consistently over 90 percent – and sometimes reaching 95 percent – in terms of the grades of lithium being extracted.
This is done through an adsorption-type direct lithium extraction (A-DLE) unit, a method tested in Vulcan’s lab and pilot plant operations.
Managing director and CEO Cris Moreno said the production start was an important moment for the region’s development of a battery market supply chain.
“This significant milestone marks a pivotal moment in Vulcan’s journey towards revolutionising domestic lithium raw material supply for Europe’s Battery industry,” he said.
“Vulcan’s LEOP facility is equipped with world-leading technology designed to showcase the efficiency of our A-DLE process and environmental benefits, whilst training our commercial production team in a pre-commercial environment as we build the Phase One commercial plant.
“We look forward to providing further updates on our Central Lithium Electrolysis Optimisation Plant (CLEOP) as we aim to produce Europe’s first fully integrated lithium battery chemicals from our own domestic resource, and also to providing updates on Phase One of the Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project, including financing, in the coming months.”
Vulcan was up in early trade at $2.86.