Amazing the difference in MC between VUL and AVZ... VUL is miles behind and their recent offtake is contingent upon release of a DFS amongst a list of other things. I know where I'd rather park my cash....
London | Perth-based lithium start-up Vulcan Energy Resources has signed its first potential offtake deal for the mine it plans to build in western Germany, just a week after hitting a $1 billion market value for the first time.
Korean company LG Energy Solution, the world’s largest producer of batteries for the electric vehicle industry, has signed a binding term sheet to buy 5000 tonnes a year from Vulcan’s proposed geothermal brine plant in the Rhine Valley.
Vulcan hopes Europe’s push to phase out petrol and diesel cars by 2035 will fuel lithium demand. Bloomberg
The deal is conditional on the two sides reaching a “definitive agreement” by the end of November, as well as Vulcan publishing its definitive feasibility study, getting its project finance, building and revving up its plant, and churning out product to the required grade.
If a definitive agreement does get inked in November, Vulcan will start selling the initial amount of lithium hydroxide to LG in 2025, with the order rising to 10,000 tonnes the following year – a quarter of that year’s anticipated annual output.
LG has a battery manufacturing plant in Poland, but is looking to expand its capacity in Europe as the continent ramps up production of electric vehicles – requiring battery-grade lithium from sustainable sources, as well as
from countries other than China.
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Vulcan’s geothermal plant will extract lithium-rich brine from 2000 metres below the Upper Rhine Valley, and use the heat from that process to power the refining process – a sustainability credential that it hopes will attract European car makers.
The
rising price of lithium, the supply-demand imbalances, the increasing focus on environmental factors, and Europe’s desire to reduce its dependence on China have powered Vulcan’s market capitalisation across the $1 billion threshold.
