Commissioning is a fraught time for any project, much less one that is forging its own path, but success will deliver a significant step change for Europe's raw materials supply chain and silence any lingering doubts remaining that the mix of geothermal energy generation and lithium extraction can work.
The LEOP commissioning phase is expected to run until October when the first brine will be introduced into the plant.
Proven pilot plant
The LEOP was developed after 30 months of operations at a pilot plant that produced lithium chloride from Vulcan's producing well sites.
Operation of the larger 1:50 scale LEOP will allow optimisation, operational training and product qualification as Vulcan prepares for development of a commercial-scale 24,000 tonne per annum of lithium hydroxide production project from late 2025.
The LEOP will use renewable energy, "adsorption-type" direct lithium extraction and Vulcan's proprietary sorbent - a combination it is hoped will vastly reduce water consumption, carbon emissions, costs and land use compared to hard rock and traditional brine developments.
The plant will produce "very pure" lithium chloride that will be sent to its central lithium electrolyser optimisation plant at the Frankfurt-Hochst chemical park for conversion into lithium hydroxide.
Major milestone
The material will then be tested by Vulcan's lithium offtake partners Stellantis, Volkswagen, Renault, Umicore and LG Energy Solution.
Success will unlock funding and offtake agreements for the commercial project.
Vulcan managing director Cris Moreno said commissioning was a significant milestone for both the company and the European battery industry, which is expected to face a significant lithium shortage by the end of the decade.
"Vulcan is gearing up to be the first to produce lithium from Europe, for Europe, but also to be the first company worldwide to produce carbon neutral lithium," he said.
Vulcan remains cashed up, having raised A$109 million last quarter through a placement at $5.10 and started the quarter with $242 million cash.
Based on its last price of $3.37, Vulcan was capitalised at $564 million.
The stock has traded in the range of $3.35-9.08 over the past year.
