First Lithium Chloride produced from Optimisation Plant

Vulcan Energy Resources Limited (Vulcan) is pleased to announce the Start of Production (SOP) of the first Lithium Chloride (LiCl) product at Vulcan’s Lithium Extraction Optimisation Plant (LEOP) in Landau, Germany. 

The first LiCl produced from LEOP mark the first lithium chemicals  produced entirely from a local source in Europe. LEOP is showing strong early results with consistently over 90% (up to 95%) lithium extraction efficiency from its Adsorption-type Direct Lithium Extraction (A-DLE) unit, replicating what Vulcan has seen in its lab and pilot plant operations, and in line with its commercial plant expectations and Vulcan’s financing model. The SOP follows over three years and more than 10,000 hours of successful in-house A-DLE piloting by Vulcan, showing high lithium recoveries and thousands of cycles of adsorbent life with no material degradation.

The first results prove that the sustainable lithium production process known as A-DLE, which accounts for 10% of global lithium production today, can be successfully applied in the Upper Rhine Valley Brine Field which contains Europe’s largest lithium resource and is also a source of geothermal renewable heat. This will allow Vulcan to produce its lithium using geothermal renewable energy, decarbonising the carbon footprint of lithium production for Battery Electric Vehicles.