Article in this morning The Australian - not much new for LT holders but it's nice to see high interest in the project

Vulcan expands German footprint as lithium demand grows

Lithium miners’ shares have soared in step with demand for the key component for batteries in electric cars. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images.

• VALERINA CHANGARATHIL

  BUSINESS REPORTER

  
• AN HOUR AGO JANUARY 4, 2022
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Lithium-focused Vulcan Energy has boosted its project footprint in the Upper Rhine Valley of Germany by more than 50 per cent after securing five new exploration licences.

The Upper-Rhine Valley in the Black Forest area of southwestern Germany is considered to hold one of the world’s biggest deposits of lithium, a key component of in-demand electric cars.

Vulcan shares are trading more than 5 per cent higher at $10.94 at 11.20am AEDT.

Lithium miners were among the hottest stocks in the market last year as surging demand for electric cars boosted lithium commodities to record highs.

The licenses cover 325 sq km of area which is considered by ASX-listed Vulcan to be prospective for deep geothermal and lithium brine, and increases its exploration area to over 1000 sq km.

Vulcan is seeking to grow its Zero Carbon Lithium project to service the European market, following strong demand from offtake customers for both lithium chemicals and renewable heating.

“These licenses will potentially provide a larger pipeline of projects,” Vulcan told investors on Tuesday.

The group has signed binding lithium offtake agreements with Volkswagen Group, Stellantis, Renault Group and Umicore, and has a binding term sheet with LG Energy Solution, which means its current plans for lithium production are now fully booked for the first five to six years of planned operation.

“We have increasing demand from our customers for further supply,” managing director Francis Wedin said.

“These new exploration licenses give us significant potential to further scale up our project as the market continues to grow, whilst also meeting the increasing demand for renewable heat and power.”

The latest positive update comes less than a month after Vulcan Energy’s scored a win in its court fight against US short-seller J Capital Research and Timothy Murray, the author of a JCap report in October, which described the Aussie company’s German project as a ‘non-starter’.

The out-of-court settlement on December 15 include permanent restraints preventing J Capital and Mr Murray from disseminating, publishing or republishing any matter of and concerning Vulcan, and its directors and officers.

In addition, J Capital and Mr Murray provided an open apology to the company, Vulcan managing director Francis Wedin, chairman Gavin Rezos, chief operating officer Thorsten Weimann and co-founder and board adviser Dr Horst Kreuter.

“While J Capital and Mr Murray may have different views about the potential of Vulcan’s Zero Carbon lithium project, J Capital and Mr Murray apologise for the allegations regarding Vulcan’s board and management,” the apology note stated.

“J Capital and Mr Murray sincerely apologise for any damage, distress and embarrassment caused to Vulcan’s board and management, in particular to Dr Wedin, Mr Rezos, Mr Weimann and Dr Kreuter.”

The orders do not prevent the parties from defending any future legal proceedings or regulatory investigations.

Vulcan’s major shareholders include big institutional investors and rich-listers Gina Rinehart and John Hancock.

Vulcan’s plans to build a “green” lithium mine in Germany, powered by geothermal energy and supplying to European battery makers, has rocketed it from a small-cap 16c/share business in January 2020 to its market capitalisation of $1.4bn.