On December 5, Vulcan Energy officially broke ground on its combined geothermal and lithium extraction plant (G-LEP) at site D12 in Landau. The G-LEP is a key component of Vulcan's first project phase, "Lionheart," which combines renewable energy generation with climate-neutral lithium extraction from deep geothermal

On December 3, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Australian Embassy in Berlin welcomed Vulcan Energy's investment in the Upper Rhine Graben in Germany. 
The German government's raw materials fund is investing up to EUR 150 million in the implementation of Vulcan Energy's Lionheart pr

On December 3, the European Commission adopted the RESourceEU Action Plan to strengthen and accelerate efforts to secure the EU’s supply of critical raw materials, including rare earth elements, cobalt, and lithium.
Building on the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), the initiative provides financing and concrete tool

On December 3, the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced that it will provide EUR 250 million in financing for Vulcan Energy’s Phase One Lionheart Project in Germany’s Upper Rhine Valley. The EUR 2 billion project will build an integrated, battery quality lithium supply chain based on geothermal brines. The EIB’s

On November 28, Neogen Ionics Limited (NIL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Neogen Chemicals Limited, announced a joint venture agreement (JV) with Morita Investment Limited (MIL), Japan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Morita Chemicals Industries Co. Limited, following the agreement executed on August 31, 2025. 
Both par

On December 1, Kodal Minerals announced that its maiden shipment of 28,950 tonnes of lithium spodumene concentrate had been completed, loading onto a dedicated bulk cargo vessel at the Port of San Pedro in Côte d'Ivoire. The vessel departed on November 30, 2025, bound for the destination port in Hainan Province, Chin

On December 3, Vulcan Energy Resources Limited secured a comprehensive financing package (Phase One Financing Package) to fully fund the construction and development of Phase One of the Lionheart lithium and renewable energy project in the Upper Rhine Valley, Germany. 
The total Phase One Financing Package of approxi

On November 24, Arverne started drilling the first geothermal doublet at the Schwabwiller site in Alsace. These initial drillings will confirm the flow rate, temperature, and lithium content of the geothermal fluid at this site. The Lithium de France project will actively contribute to the energy transition by provid

On November 25, Pure Lithium Corporation announced that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had granted it a foundational patent titled “Vertically Integrated Pure Lithium Metal Production and Lithium Battery Production.” This patent covers technology that combines lithium extraction, anode production, and battery manufactur

On November 22, the UK Government announced the UK’s new Critical Minerals Strategy. The strategy is backed by up to GBP 50 million in new funding. It aims to reduce the UK’s overreliance on imports of critical minerals by ramping up domestic production. It will ensure no more than 60% of the UK’s supply of any one c

On November 10, Bern University of Applied Sciences announced the successful completion of the CircuBAT research project, which aimed to close the loop between the production, use, and recycling of automotive lithium-ion batteries.
A total of seven Swiss research institutions and 24 companies partnered to develop so

On November 11, Emerson Electric Co. announced it has been selected by Lithium Americas Corp. to provide its comprehensive automation portfolio and expert technical services for the Thacker Pass project in northern Nevada. 
Emerson’s automation will help develop the mine and processing facilities at Thacker Pass to e

On November 6, Redwood Materials announced that it was bringing operations online at its South Carolina campus, adding an initial 20,000 metric tons of annual materials production. 
Operations of recovering critical minerals on the 600-acre campus in Berkeley County is a start toward what will become one of the world

On November 3, Vulcan Energy announced that it has secured the permit to build its upstream Lithium Extraction Plant (LEP) for the Phase One Lionheart Project in Landau, Germany, with all major construction permits now received. Lionheart will have the capacity to produce 4,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide, enough for

On November 4, Kodal Minerals, the West African lithium producer and mineral exploration and development company, announced the opening of the Stage 1 Bougouni Lithium Project in southern Mali. The project is operated by a local Mali-registered mining company, Les Mines de Lithium de Bougouni SA (LMLB). LMLB is a sub

On October 23, Lifthium announced that it had completed a year-long test program to refine lithium chloride (LiCl) by electrolysis on an industrial scale. The results were obtained over a year of testing in Canada. This new technological paradigm has overcome several barriers associated with lithium chloride electrol

On October 23, Cornish Lithium started production of refined LHM (lithium hydroxide) from lithium extracted from granite in Cornwall.‌‍‍‍‌‍ ‌‍‌‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‍‌‍‍‌‌‌‌‍‌‍‍‌‍‍‌‌‍Cornish Lithium is repurposing a former China clay quarry and, using low-carbon processing technology, producing refined LHM on a si

On October 13, Vulcan Energy signed an offtake agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore plc to provide battery-quality lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) from its Phase One Lionheart Project. The Project will have the capacity to produce 275 GWh of power, and 24,000 tons of LHM, enough for 500,000 batter

On September 30, Canada-based Lithium Americas Corp. announced that together with General Motors Holdings LLC, its joint venture partner in the Thacker Pass lithium project, it has reached a non-binding agreement in principle (First Draw Terms) with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to advance the first draw of USD

Liontown Resources Limited has amended its long-term offtake agreement with Tesla Inc., shifting the pricing mechanism from lithium hydroxide indices to spodumene concentrate, as it tries to diversify pricing references across main lithium products. 
Additionally, Liontown is in advanced discussions with Ford Motor C