Vulcan Energy Resources (ASX:VUL) rocketed nearly 19 per cent on Wednesday after reporting it had the “largest JORC-compliant lithium resource in Europe”.
JORC refers to the mining industry’s official code for reporting exploration results, mineral resources and ore reserves, managed by the Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee.
Named for the Greek god of fire, Vulcan traded as Koppar Resources (ASX:KRX) until two weeks ago and has unveiled an internationally competitive maiden resource today.
The Vulcan zero carbon lithium project resource is 13.2 million tonnes of contained lithium carbonate equivalent grading 181 mg/litre lithium brine.
Vulcan’s lithium brine resource has an average porosity of 9.5 per cent and is calculated on a 100 mg/l cut-off.
“Vulcan’s maiden mineral resource estimate, on just one of the licence areas within the Vulcan project, elevates us into becoming a globally significant lithium project,” managing director Dr Francis Wedin said.
“It also shows the potential for the Vulcan project to be a primary source for the burgeoning European battery industry’s lithium hydroxide needs, via a low-impact, zero carbon lithium process powered by and sourced from geothermal wells.”
Vulcan’s lithium maiden resource is plugged as zero carbon, offering a potential competitive advantage with the zero-emission conscious.
A scoping study is underway for the project, lead by Hatch as engineering lead.
The rebadged company’s project is in Deutschland’s Upper Rhine Valley in the country’s south west.
Vulcan, which has operations in West Perth and Karlsruhe in Germany, will dual-list on the Frankfurt exchange with the ticker 6KO.
Wedin noted Vulcan was reaching wider capital markets in recent times, with greater liquidity and exposure to high-quality investors at a relatively low cost to the company.
Electric vehicle-led lithium hydroxide demand in Europe is tipped to overtake Chinese demand growth, making it a good time to explore locally supplied low-emission lithium alternatives in the EU marketplace.
READ: Geothermal lithium brine play Vulcan performs mind meld with German utility
In other ASX battery metals news today:
Bass Metals (ASX:BSM) has increased graphite resources at its Graphmada mine in Madagascar with a maiden resource for its Mahela deposit. The company’s 2750m drilling program delivered an initial 4.4-million-tonne resource grading 3.8 per cent total graphitic carbon.
New South Wales goldfields operators Broken Hill Prospecting (ASX:BPL) and Cobalt Blue Holdings (ASX:COB) (FRA:COH) (OTCMKTS:CBBHF) have ended a long-running dispute to agree on terms that will allow Cobalt Blue to swallow up Thackaringa cobalt project and all its tenements. Broken Hill will receive $500,000 cash, 9 million COB shares valued at 15c each, a $1m convertible note with a 6 per cent interest rate and a $3m promissory note with varied interest rates.
FYI Resources (ASX:FYI) will become the latest ASX-listed company to join the Western Australian industrial hub in the Kwinana suburb of Perth. The WA state government’s Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation and Western Australian land authority both approved the move-in that will allow FYI to refine kaolin feedstock from its wholly-owned Cadoux high-purity alumina project in a battery-valley facility near a major bulk cargo port.