Vulcan Energy Resources has successfully started the production of climate-neutral lithium chloride at its plant in Landau, Germany. This is the first time that lithium has been produced entirely in Europe.
Vulcan’s combined geothermal and lithium resource is considered the largest in Europe and is mainly concentrated in the Upper Rhine Valley in Germany. In February 2023, the company published the results of a feasibility study for the first phase of its lithium project. Vulcan plans to initially produce 24,000 tons of lithium hydroxide monohydrate per year, which will be achieved through a multi-stage process from lithium chloride.
The LEOP (“Lithium Extraction Optimization Plant”) in Landau has been operational since August. It is used for product qualification, optimization, and training of the operating team for subsequent commercial production. The LEOP follows from Vulcan’s pilot plants in Insheim, which have extracted lithium chloride from Vulcan Energy’s producing drill sites over the past three years. The application of Direct Lithium Extraction by Adsorption has enabled efficiencies of up to 95 percent in the extraction of lithium from geothermal brine, the company reports. This result has already been achieved in Vulcan’s laboratories and pilot plants in Insheim.
Source: https://v-er.eu/de/blog/2024/04/10/vulcans-lithiumextraktionsoptimierungsanlage-produziert-europas-erstes-gruenes-lithiumchlorid/
