AZL General Discussion, page-18707

Adsorption DLE ASX playersCurrently ~10% of global lithium production comes from DLE projects in China and South America but commodity price provider, Fastmarkets, sees this number jumping 30% by 2030.The world needs abundant, low-cost lithium to have an energy transition and experts believe DLE could help in meeting that goal.As well as international mining companies, the potential game-changing technology has found its way into the hands of a handful of ASX companies, some of which hold ambitious plans to begin production between 2024–2026.Dual Australian and Frankfurt listed Vulcan Energy Resources’ (ASX:VUL) promises to use its own proprietary alumina-based adsorbent, VULSORB, at its zero carbon lithium project in Germany’s Upper Rhine Valley.The project, which has been in development since 2018, is now heading into the execution phase with its Phase One commercial operation targeting 24,000tpa of lithium hydroxide production to supply its offtakers including automakers Stellantis, Volkswagen and Renault.While current DLE producers use gas to heat the brine, Vulcan’s project – and major point of difference – uses geothermal brine that is already naturally heated, with excess heat used to generate renewable energy.Vulcan also uses process equipment to concentrate lithium, instead of concentration ponds to speed up the production time and reduce water usage.