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- Vulcan Energy (VUL) updates the market on progress for the final half of FY23 and released its Interim Management Report
- The company is keeping to its schedule for the execution phase of its Zero Carbon Lithium Project in the Upper Rhine region of Germany, which will extract lithium from brine using renewable geothermal energy
- Vulcan is focussed on the commissioning phase of its commercial demonstration plants by the end of October
- The optimisation plants are to produce the first tonnes of lithium chemicals domestically in Europe
- Lithium produced downstream using this energy is set to be emissions-free and will be supplied to battery manufacturers in Europe and elsewhere
- VUL shares last traded at $2.98
Vulcan Energy (VUL) today released its final half-year report for FY23, indicating revenue from operations of €3.1 million (A$5.2 million).
The company also issued an Interim Management Report.
Vulcan is already producing geothermal brine and looking to ramp up production as it develops its Zero Carbon Lithium Project in the Upper Rhine region of Germany, aiming to extract lithium from brine using renewable geothermal energy.
The update shows the definitive feasibility study for phase one of the project has been delivered and the company is focussed on the commissioning phase of its commercial demonstration plants, dubbed optimisation plants, by the end of October. These will produce the first tonnes of lithium chemicals ever produced domestically in Europe.
Executive Chairman Dr Francis Wedin told The Market Herald the company was in a “good cash position to be able to continue momentum on the ground and continue the execution”.
“We’re getting to the point where we can complete the financing of our phase one,” he said.
“The DFS for phase one was a pivotal moment for the company and now we have the last pieces of the puzzle falling into place.
“There’s a lot going on, there are 320 people on the ground in Vulcan in Germany who are actively building this project.
“We’re delivering on our timelines and our promises there and now we’re going into that second half of the year when the rubber really hits the road, and we start executing on this with our current strong cash position.”
From November, the company will focus on raising additional capital needed for the project.
Due to the complexity of the project, the company recorded a loss after tax of $26.07 million (€15.6 million) for the half-year period ending on June 30.
However, the substantial spending on the company’s books reflects the hiring of staff and engineering and construction outflows towards realising its German project at full nameplate design capacity.
The company held cash and cash equivalents of $246.7 million (€147.6) at June 30.
The company has five binding offtake agreements with international lithium industry players, including LG Energy, one of the world’s largest lithium battery manufacturers with the vertical scale required for in-house manufacturing.
Vulcan also holds binding agreements with Volkswagen and Renault Group.
These lithium agreements are backed by no fewer than 20 different lithium and geothermal licenses actively held by the company in Germany across 11 project areas, boasting a total inferred lithium carbonate equivalent resource of 16.4 million tonnes.
The company is also building a downstream plant in Frankfurt.
As detailed in a recent DFS, the company is targeting the production of 24 kilotonnes per annum (Ktpa) of lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) within the EU for sale in EU markets.
Vulcan’s vision includes a 300 gigawatt-hour renewable power source from geothermal energy, producing 250GWh of renewable heat annually.
VUL shares last traded at $2.98.
