Australian lithium competitor Vulcan Energy Resources [ASX:VUL] has put forth a project execution update, explaining its progress on the Zero Carbon Lithium project.
Vulcan aims to take a spot as a key enabler of Europe’s transition to electric vehicles (EVs). It hopes to do so via the optimisation plant which will supply lithium hydroxide.
VUL was down by nearly 2% in share price by the early afternoon on Thursday — trading at $3.75 a share.
In the last month VUL has moved down by 25% in its stock value, and is currently down by 42% in its sector 12-month average:
Source: TradingView
Vulcan’s final dash to complete optimisation plant
Today, Vulcan sought to update its investors on the latest on its Lithium Extraction Optimisation Plant (LEOP), which it says has now entered the final sprint to finish.
The final spurt of completion consists of the mechanical elements with just 73 days left until its desired target date in August.
The lithium group reiterated it will see through the commissioning phase of the LEOP in September. After this, and once full operations officially launch, Vulcan will provide the first tonnes of lithium chloride concentrate to ever be domestically produced in Europe.
The first tonnes of lithium will be produced using the commercially proven method of sorption-type Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE), which will also be driven by renewable heat instead of fossil gas.
Lithium chloride produced by LEOP will supply the downstream optimization plant with the material needed to produce the final lithium hydroxide product.
After this, the plant will produce the final lithium hydroxide product following 2.5 years of successful piloting test work.
Vulcan has approached the point of requesting proposals stage for its EPC and EPCM contracts for an integrated commercial geothermal plant and a lithium extraction plant — and a central lithium plant for producing lithium hydroxide.
This will be planned for a Phase One capacity of 24,000 tonnes a year of lithium hydroxide, with the meeting of prospective contractors due at the beginning of June.
Vulcan sees its leveraging of a strong cash position of $269 million as of 26 May to negotiate early works agreements and place orders for key long-lead commercial plant equipment to give the project more momentum.
Vulcan’s CEO, Dr Francis Wedin commented:
‘Enabled by our strong cash position, we are making steady, methodical progress towards the execution of the Zero Carbon Lithium project. With the final sprint to finish the mechanical completion of our lithium extraction optimisation plant and negotiation of key contracts for commercial Phase One, there is a hive of activity on the ground.
‘We are fortunate to be joined by some highly motivated, highly skilled project execution professionals from the O&G and chemicals industries, deploying their considerable experience towards decarbonization, electrification and supply chain security in the West.
‘Completing our optimisation plant and starting operations in the coming weeks and months will represent the culmination of over five years’ work on the Zero Carbon Lithium project, and the birth of an entirely new domestic lithium industry in Germany and Europe, which we are very excited to share with our stakeholders.’
Source: VUL
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