Vulcan Energy Resources has added more than a million tonnes to the already-hefty mineral resource at its Zero Carbon Lithium project in Germany, in addition to a bumping up its grade in a new resource update.
The resource now shows 27.7 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) at 175 milligrams per litre, up from 26.6 million tonnes going 174mg/l. The upgrade reflects a bigger resource in the phase-one Lionheart area, which now sits at 4.16 million tonnes LCE grading 181mg/l.
The upgrade is significant given the company says it already boasts Europe’s biggest lithium resource.
Vulcan is also working on its bridging study for phase-one development and it is expected to be finalised, in addition to a field development plan, as soon as November. The updated development plan includes an increased focus on the production wells and the removal of higher-risk step-out zones.
The focus on one production centre instead of two reduces the potential for upstream risk and drives the economics of the operation by reducing the two planned lithium extraction plants and two geothermal power plants down to one central extraction plant and a single geothermal power plant with 24,000 tonnes per annum LCE capacity.
The company is developing integrated lithium chemicals and geothermal renewable energy production from its Zero Carbon Lithium project. Uniquely, the project will produce clean geothermal power for its own use and for sale into the market, in addition to lithium hydroxide production.
The project’s model aims to extract the sought-after battery metal from its lithium-laden hot brines percolating deep below in the picturesque Upper Rhine Valley that extends across France, Germany and Switzerland.
While more than 60 per cent of global lithium production is sourced from such brines, Vulcan’s competitive – and green – edge is that the heat at which these brines bubble to the surface is capable of generating power, courtesy of standard geothermal technology, with zero carbon emissions. After extraction of geothermal energy and lithium, the brine is reinjected back into the bedrock to make a closed-loop process with minimal impact on the surrounding environment.
The development plan for Lionheart includes the addition of new wells and the continued operation of existing wells at Insheim and Landau. The placement of the new wells has been optimised using the company’s newly-acquired 3D seismic and improved static and dynamic models.
The aim of the revised development plan is to produce the same quantity of geothermal-lithium brine, consistent with the previous definitive feasibility study from February, from the upstream Lionheart area using multiple new and existing well sites, with a gradual ramp up process while construction of the plants is ongoing.
Once the bridging study is completed, the company will formally begin its debt and equity financing process for phase one, which it is aiming to do at a project level.
While Vulcan’s plans for its Zero Carbon Lithium project are ambitious, the operation has the potential to become a game-changer in the development of lithium brine projects worldwide.
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