Vulcan to expand into France

Our lithium Investment and 2020 Pick of the Year, Vulcan Energy Resources (ASX:VUL) is set to expand its business into France, a move which is being supported by significant shareholder and multinational carmaker, Stellantis.

We like this move, as it could significantly increase VUL’s footprint in the European battery metals market and allow for larger scale production down the track should all go well.

As part of the push into France, VUL has applied for its first lithium exploration licence in the Alsace region of France which can be seen below:

Previously, VUL’s brine sampling work in Alsace returned a high grade of 214 mg/L lithium with low impurities.

Importantly, “existing geothermal operations in the region indicate brine composition in Alsace is materially the same as the brine composition across the border at Vulcan’s operations in Germany, meaning Vulcan’s sustainable lithium production process is applicable across the whole field.”

This is significant as VUL recently reported that its brine graded 57.1% lithium hydroxide (LiOH), easily exceeding the best-on-the-market battery grade specification of 56.5% LiOH that is required from offtake customers.

What’s next for VUL? We are now looking towards Phase 1 of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), which VUL expects in the first quarter of 2023.