(Bloomberg) — Australia-listed lithium developer Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd. has gained nearly 40% this week after announcing its first viable output using direct-extraction technology, an emerging technique for producing the battery material.
The firm’s demonstration plant in Landau, Germany, delivered a batch of lithium chloride in line with the quality it eventually plans to make commercially, Vulcan said in a statement on Thursday. The firm backed by Australia’s richest woman Gina Rinehart has agreements to supply European carmakers including Stellantis, Renault SA, and Volkswagen AG.
The firm’s shares jumped about 13% on Wednesday and closed 24% higher on Thursday.
Direct lithium extraction, or DLE, is seen as a promising production technique because it radically reduces the time needed to convert lithium brine into a form suitable for battery manufacturing. But it has faced widespread skepticism, and is still relatively untested at commercial scale.
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