Is Vulcan Energy’s lithium utopia too good to be true?Peter...

Is Vulcan Energy’s lithium utopia too good to be true?Peter KerResources reporterFeb 15, 2021 – 12.01amSavedShareThe market euphoria surrounding Vulcan Energy’s utopian plan to produce lithium in Germany at zero cost and with zero carbon emissions reminds Joe Lowry of another investment craze that came out of western Europe.“I view Vulcan as a modern day ‘tulip bulb’ investment. Great marketing, low on substance,” he says, likening the ASX-listed company to the famous investment bubble that burst in the Dutch flower market in the 1600s.Vulcan shares rose by more than 4400 per cent in the year to January on the back of plans to enter the lithium market in 2024 as the world’s lowest-cost producer by extracting and harvesting both lithium and geothermal power from hot, salty groundwater in the Rhine Valley.The notion that Vulcan’s geothermal power would entirely offset the cost and the carbon footprint of the lithium extraction has struck a chord with investors at a time when surging electric vehicle sales are breathing life back into the battery minerals sector.“Vulcan is unlikely to ever produce commercially and even if they do they will most likely be at the high end of the cost curve,” Lowry says, contradicting the pitch that helped Vulcan raise $120 million this month.