Vulcan produces Europe's first green lithium chloride

Australia-based lithium producer Vulcan Energy Resources has started producing lithium chloride (LiCl) at its lithium extraction optimization plant (LEOP) in Landau, Germany. The company launched the plant in November last year.

According to Vulcan, this is the first lithium produced locally in Europe, adding that by using adsorption direct lithium extraction (A-DLE), the company has consistently maintained an efficiency of over 90% in extracting lithium from geothermal brine. This result has been achieved at the German laboratory in Vulcan and at the pilot plant in Insheim, where the extraction process was successfully tested for three years.

Vulcan said it has invested more than €40 million in LEOP and the facility will be used primarily to optimize operational processes, conduct product quality testing and train and prepare production teams for the operation of commercial plants.

In the next production step, lithium chloride will be processed into lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM), which can be used in batteries. This will take place at the Central Lithium Electrolysis Optimization Plant (CLEOP), which is currently being completed at the German Industrial Park in Frankfurt-Hoechste. Vulcan expects the facility to be operational this summer. Vulcan said the LEOP and CLEOP optimization plants are precursors to planned commercial plants, with the LHM having an annual capacity of 24,000 tonnes.