Page 114 - pd276-Oct19-mag-web_Neat

ReGIoNAl RouNDuP

Koppar goes for zero carbon lithium

scoping study on potentially the bit more advanced than the URV in terms Koppar may be part of an emerging
A world’s first zero carbon lithium project of the lithium side of things, so there have group in a niche part of the lithium space
is under way in Germany. been a few companies go down this route but few of its peers will be able to boast a
Koppar Resources Ltd recently ap- of full demo plants producing commercial project which sits 60km from a major city
pointed Perth-based consulting engi- quantities of battery-grade lithium prod- like Vulcan does.
neering and project implementation outfit ucts for customers to test,” Koppar man- Vulcan is 60km from Stuttgart; Germa-
Hatch to provide services related to the aging director Francis Wedin told Paydirt. ny’s manufacturing hub and heart of the
Vulcan lithium project in the Upper Rhine “We understand that this has been EU auto and EV battery industry.
Valley (URV). done in the Salton Sea lithium for geo- “In terms of distance to market, it prob-
Hatch will provide engineering services thermal plants and we understand the ably doesn’t get any better than that to the
for the Vulcan scoping study, which in- guys behind it are Hatch on the engineer- automotive industry,” Wedin said.
cludes design on an integrated geother- ing side. We are looking to shortcut that Koppar is fully focused on supplying
mal and lithium extraction plant. learning curve with Hatch now.” European OEMs and cathode manufac-
Koppar proposes to produce battery- Germany’s URV has been known to be turers in the region, many of which are
grade lithium hydroxide from hot sub- lithium-rich and a number of geothermal looking to lessen the reliance on China
surface geothermal brines pumped from plants are fully functioning in the region, for raw materials.
wells, with a renewable energy by-prod- however, Wedin said a historic discon- The likes of Volkswagen are also intent
uct also achieved. nect between the resources industry and on delivering a net zero carbon EV as part
There are few places in the world with the academic knowledge from the geo- of one of their range, therefore, sourcing
similar concentrations of lithium-rich, hot thermal industry meant there had been a lithium closer to home is essential to their
sub-surface brines in geothermal fields gap in the development of what Koppar is strategy.
such as those where Vulcan is located trying to achieve. “OEMs such as Volkswagen ideally
in the URV and the Salton Sea brines in “That is changing now we are reaching want to be fully integrated certainly down
California. an inflection point,” Wedin said. to the cathode space, so they would want
A number of companies are vested in “The URV geothermal field doesn’t those raw materials to supply that and
producing power and lithium in Salton stop on the border with France and on they are desperate not to be reliant on
Sea, with Hatch actively engaged in Cali- the French side there is a consortium – China for such a critical part of that supply
fornia. BASF, EDF Energy, Eramet and Peugeot/ chain. That has been messaged all the
“We are looking at precedence on this Citronen – pursuing the same goal as us, way and we are getting the same mes-
type of plant working and Salton Sea is a so it is not just us in the field,” Wedin said. sage from multiple stakeholders in the

A by-product of the production
process, renewable geo-thermal
energy could be generated from dual-
purpose wells that fully offset energy
consumption in lithium processing

Page 114 OCTOBeR 2019 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT