Vulcan Energy produces battery grade lithium from geothermal

Drawings of planned geothermal-lithium production plant (source: Vulcan Energy Resources)

Vulcan Energy Resources has announced that they have successfully produced their first battery-quality lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) from the Zero Carbon Lithium Project pilot operations in the Upper Rhine Valley in Germany.

The Zero Carbon Lithium Project aims to produce battery-quality lithium hydroxide from a combined geothermal energy and lithium resource. Coincidentally, the Upper Rhine Valley in Germany is considered to be the largest lithium resource in Europe.

The lithium was extracted from geothermal brine from a binary cycle geothermal plant that is co-located with the sorption pilot plant. This is initially in the form of lithium chloride, which is then sent offsite for purification and concentration by a third-party service.

Concentrated lithium chloride is converted to a lithium hydroxide solution by electrolysis. The solution is then crystallized to lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM). With very low impurities, the sample LHM produced by Vulcan exceeds traditional battery-grade quality.

The pilot plant has been operational since April 2021. With the data generated from this sample production, Vulcan can move forward with the ongoing Definitive Feasibility Study that they are conducting with Hatch. Vulcan is targeting Phase 1 commercial production of battery-grade lithium by 2024.

Source: Vulcan Energy