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Lithium Chloride: At least 40,000 tons of lithium annually
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Uwe Anspach / dpa
The carmaker Stellantis is participating in Vulcan Energy's forthcoming German-Australian lithium project in the Oberrheingraben.
Stellantis will acquire an eight percent stake for the equivalent of around 50 million euros, Vulcan announced.
Shares in Vulcan Energy, which is listed on the Frankfurt and Sydney stock exchanges, rose by almost a quarter.
The money is to be used to build up lithium production from thermal water.
The start-up from Karlsruhe has announced that it intends to extract at least 40,000 tons of lithium annually for electric car battery cells at the Oberrheingraben from 2025.
The investment requirement amounts to at least 1.7 billion euros.
The Stellantis group, which is based in the Netherlands, includes car brands such as Peugeot, Opel and Fiat.
"This highly strategic investment in a leading lithium company will help us build a resilient and sustainable value chain for our European electric vehicle battery production," Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said in a statement.
According to Stellantis plans, by 2030 all cars sold by the group in Europe should be battery-powered.
Sought-after raw material for e-cars
Stellantis is among the companies with which Vulcan has signed supply agreements for hundreds of thousands of tons of lithium, along with Volkswagen, Renault and battery maker LG Chem.
These are subject to the condition that lithium production can be built up.
Lithium extraction from thermal water is a new process.
So far, the popular light metal has mainly been extracted from solar power plants in South America and from hard rock in Australian mines.
A number of citizens' initiatives are fighting against Vulcan's plans on the Upper Rhine Graben because they fear earthquakes from the geothermal drilling.
atb/Reuters
