PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Vulcan Energy has completed a A$120-million institutional placement to accelerate the development of its Zero Carbon lithium project, in Germany.

“We received overwhelming support for the placement from both domestic and international environmental and social governance-focused institutional investors. This demonstrates clear support for our strategic plan to develop the world’s first Zero Carbon lithium project,” said Vulcan MD Dr Francis Wedin on Thursday.

“Proceeds from the placement provide us with a runway to final investment decision and enable Vulcan to accelerate project development, including targeted delivery of a definitive feasibility study by the second quarter of 2022.”

The placement consisted of more than 18.46-million shares, priced at A$6.50 each, representing a 17.1% discount to the company’s last closing price on February 1 and a 17.8% discount to its five-day volume weighted average share price.

The shares were placed under the company’s existing placement capacity, and the Gina Rinehart-led Hancock Prospecting emerged as a cornerstone investor in the placement.

A recently completed scoping study into the Zero Carbon lithium project demonstrated the potential for a combined operation producing lithium hydroxide and renewable energy, with a net zero carbon footprint.

The scoping study considered the staged development of a brine extraction, power generation, lithium direct extraction plant and brine reinjection that would be co-located.

Stage 1 of the production plant would consist of a direct extraction and lithium plant at an operating, producing geothermal well and power plant, while Stage 2 of the operation would consist of the drilling of ten new geothermal production wells, the construction of a new, combined geothermal, direct lithium extraction and lithium hydroxide plant at Vulcan’s Ortenau licence.