In light of today's announcement, this tweet from Francis Wedin...

In light of today's announcement, this tweet from Francis Wedin from Nov 2022 is a good reminder of Germany's growing support for 100 new geothermal projects by 2030, with up to 40% Gov't funding.

Combined with Stellantis' 50% contribution even if the project does not proceed past Phase A, then it is financially a low risk path to scale up the energy side of the business. If they find commercial quantities of lithium in that part of the graben, then even better!

Look forward to an update from the EU Commision on the Critical Raw Materials Act this quarter and Vulcan would certainly be a strong candidate for further support if it deemed a European Project of Common Interest PCI).

We know the DFS will show the capex for the project to be quite significant, so any further EU financial support will be very welcome. Several ASX companies have been punished severely when the gap between the company's market cap, funding situation and capex is too wide. Having a partner like Stellantis and good links with the EU reduces this risk for Vulcan significantly IMO. Talga (TLG) for example has pre-approval for a 300 million dollar loan from the EIB. I see no reason why Vulcan cannot do something similar given the company's strong alignment to EU energy policy and climate objectives.