Volt Lithium Corp. [VLT-TSXV, VLTLF-OTCQB, 12D-FSE] shares rallied Monday after the company said it has deployed, installed and commenced function testing of its first field unit located in the Permian basin in Texas, paving the way for the first lithium production.
The project is a collaboration with a major Permian Basin operator based on their previously announced strategic investment of US$1.5 million, money that was intended to be used to construct and deploy the field unit.
The company also said the field unit will be capable of processing over 200,000 litres (1,250 barrels) of oil field brine per day, representing a two-times scale up from Volt’s previous processing capabilities of 96,000 litres (600 barrels) per day, as announced in a press release on July 17, 2024.
Volt Lithium shares advanced on the news, rising 5.7% or $0.025 to 46 cents. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 48 cents and 15.5 cents.
Volt Lithium is a company that aims to become one of North America’s first commercial producers of lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonates from oil field brine. The field unit in West Texas will produce lithium hydroxide monohydrate using Volt’s proprietary direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology, building on work done to date by the company at its permanent demonstration plant in Calgary, Alberta.
“Our team is thrilled to share that we have successfully deployed, installed and commenced function-testing of the field unit on-site at our strategic partner’s Permian basin location in West Texas,’’ said Volt Lithium President and CEO Alex Wylie.
“The introduction of this initial field unit marks the achievement of another critical milestone of our strategy to become one of North America’s first commercial producers of lithium from oil field brine,’’ he said. “Volt has reached a critical inflection point with this achievement and is well positioned to commence DLE operations in the field in the third quarter of 2024, which aligns with our previous guidance. We look forward to providing updates as we continue to progress.’’
Volt deployed and completed the installation of its field unit in the Permian basin in August, 2024, which represents a 1:83 scale to future commercial production. Following installation, the company commenced function testing of the field unit, putting Volt on a clear path to full-scale commercialization in the near term.
Volt’s field unit is modular and provides the company with the ability to cost-effectively and efficiently scale up further to process commercial levels of brine through the following methods. They include adding modules to increase processing capacity, reducing lithium extraction time to increase volumes and implementing larger extraction modules.
Based on the detailed historical modelling completed by the company’s engineering team, Volt will continually scale up its initial field unit over the next year to achieve commercial production of 100,000 barrels per day, positioning the company as a near-to-market, low-cost and full-scale commercial producer.
