Volt Lithium (TSXV: VLT) has achieved first lithium production on its field operations in the Permian Basin, Texas.
The company began operating its direct lithium extraction (DLE) system on September 17, and is now optimizing its field unit, Volt said on Thursday. The site is near Midland, about 500 km southwest of Dallas.
Volt’s shares shot up 27% in Toronto on Thursday to close at 47¢ apiece, bringing the company’s market capitalization to $66.7 million. They’ve traded in a 52-week range of 16¢ to 49¢.
The company’s next step is to produce lithium chloride concentrate, which will be converted to battery-grade lithium carbonate at Volt’s field simulation centre in Calgary. As the company scales up to full operations, downstream refining is expected to shift onsite.
“Achieving first lithium production establishes Volt as a leader in direct lithium extraction from North American oilfield brines and marks the company’s strategic shift from development to production,” Volt CEO Alex Wylie said in a release.
Ramp up
Volt aims to ramp up commercial production to 100,000 barrels per day of brine during the second half of 2025.
The company’s DLE approach involves a two-stage process. The first focuses on removing contaminants from the brine before extraction.
In the second stage, the breakthrough in their technology came with the development of specialized ion exchange beads, the company said.
“Unlike traditional beads, their innovative creation boasted a size of five microns and an impressive 800 times the surface area of other industry standard beads, enhancing their extraction efficiency,” Wylie told The Northern Miner in 2023.
This advancement, he said, allowed the team to consistently extract lithium from brines during various testing stages, including successful pilot projects.
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