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As of the end of December 2025, approximately 950 personnel were on site (740 manual craft workers, 210 additional site workers). The workforce is expected to increase to approximately 1,800 at peak construction in 2026. Phase 1 construction is anticipated to create nearly 2,000 direct jobs, including 1,800 skilled contractors.

The Thacker Pass project is located in Humboldt County in Northern Nevada, United States, approximately 100 kilometres northwest of Winnemucca, at the southern end of the McDermitt Caldera. It is a shallow open-pit mine with a co-located processing facility, currently under construction. Initial construction commenced in March 2023, with mechanical completion of Phase 1 targeted for late 2027. The project covers approximately 9 square miles of public land.

Phase 1 is designed for a nominal production capacity of 40,000 tonnes per year of battery-quality lithium carbonate. The total nominal design capacity over five phases is 160,000 tonnes per year.

The processing method involves open-pit mining of mineralised soft clay, followed by crushing and an acid leaching process using on-site produced sulfuric acid. The process is designed as a closed-loop, zero liquid discharge facility with high water recycle and reuse. The lithium-bearing solution will be processed to produce high-purity lithium carbonate. Tailings will be filtered and dry-stacked.

Bechtel is the engineering, procurement, and construction management contractor. The site will include a 642-acre plant complex with 600,000 square feet of processing plant buildings. Key equipment includes a sulfuric acid plant and a steam turbine generator. Foundation, rebar, and concrete work are underway for facilities including the Filter Building and the Magnesium Sulfate Building. The mine plan involves block mining.

The Höchst Commercial-scale Central Lithium Plant (CLP) and the Central Lithium Electrolysis Optimisation Plant (CLEOP) are facilities developed by Vulcan Energy Resources at Industriepark Höchst, Germany. The CLEOP, operational since November 2024, is a pre-commercial plant for testing and optimising the conversion of lithium chloride into battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate. The CLP is the planned full-scale commercial facility, part of Vulcan's Lionheart project, targeted to start production in 2028 with an annual capacity of approximately 24,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide monohydrate.

The Central Lithium Electrolysis Optimisation Plant (CLEOP) announced its first production of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate in January 2025. The planned Commercial-scale Central Lithium Plant (CLP) is designed to produce approximately 24,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide monohydrate per year, sufficient for around 500,000 electric vehicle batteries annually, with production targeted for 2028.

The process involves extracting lithium chloride from geothermal brine in the Upper Rhine Valley and then converting it to battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate at the Höchst facilities. The Central Lithium Electrolysis Optimisation Plant (CLEOP) tests and optimises this conversion process. The Commercial-scale Central Lithium Plant (CLP) will be the full-scale commercial processing facility, utilising electrolysis units and crystallisers, with ABB supplying electrical infrastructure and JordProxa providing crystallisation, evaporation, and water purification systems.

Equipment at the Commercial-scale Central Lithium Plant (CLP) will include electrolysis units and crystallisers. ABB will supply the complete electrical infrastructure, and JordProxa will provide crystallisation, evaporation, and water purification systems.

The Landau Geothermal-Lithium Extraction Plant in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, is an integrated project by Vulcan Energy Resources, combining geothermal energy production with lithium extraction. It operates as a processing facility, extracting lithium from geothermal brine and generating renewable energy. The primary commodity is lithium, processed into battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate, with geothermal energy and heat as significant co-products. The Lithium Extraction Optimisation Plant (LEOP), an optimisation and training facility, commenced operations in November 2023 and produced its first lithium chloride in April 2024.

The Lithium Extraction Optimisation Plant (LEOP) started producing its first lithium chloride in April 2024. Early results from LEOP show a lithium extraction efficiency of over 90 percent, reaching up to 95 percent.

Hot, lithium-rich brine is pumped from deep underground reservoirs to the surface, where its heat is used to generate renewable electricity and provide district heating. Lithium is extracted from the brine as lithium chloride using Vulcan's proprietary Adsorption-type Direct Lithium Extraction (A-DLE) technology with its VULSORB® sorbent. The lithium chloride is then transported to Vulcan's Central Lithium Electrolysis Optimisation Plant (CLEOP) in Frankfurt-Höchst for conversion into battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate.

The geothermal plant includes an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system with turbines, heat exchangers, and pumps, supplied by Turboden and ROM Technik.

Phase One of the commercial project, part of the 'Lionheart' initiative, aims to produce 24,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide monohydrate annually. The new 30MW geothermal power plant is expected to produce up to 275 gigawatt-hours of clean electricity and 560 gigawatt-hours of renewable heat per year.

The Lionheart Project, operated by Vulcan Energy Resources in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, involves two drilling sites, Trappelberg and Schleidberg. It aims to produce lithium from geothermal brine in the Upper Rhine Valley, alongside renewable geothermal energy for heating and power. The project is supported by German government and European Investment Bank funding.

The overall Lionheart Project targets an annual production of up to 24,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide monohydrate, sufficient for approximately 500,000 electric vehicle batteries. It also aims to generate 275 GWh of electricity and 560 GWh of heat per year. Commercial production is planned to start in 2028.

Extracted lithium chloride will be processed into battery-quality lithium hydroxide monohydrate at a central plant in Frankfurt.

The project uses V20 and V10 electric drilling rigs. The V20 rig has 2500 horsepower, a 550 tonne hook load capacity, and a 7500 psi fluid pressure system.

Operational geothermal power plant acquired in January 2022, producing carbon-neutral electricity and serving as a site for piloting lithium extraction.

Maximum electrical output of 4.8 MW and a maximum flow rate of 80 litres per second. Produces carbon-neutral electricity for approximately 6,500 households.

Large-scale Devonian lithium brine project utilizing DLE technology; NI 43-101 resource-stage report.

Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE)

ESP pump (REDA 538 SN3600); variable frequency drive (VFD); surface piping/valves/fittings; two 400-bbl upright tanks; downhole pressure & temperature recorders; DLE pilot unit (30 columns) with rotary valve, air agitation, and inline ICP

Lithium clay/brine MRE; no economic study defining initial CAPEX.

Testwork only

Fleet list provided (underground + open pit): Underground—Volvo A60H haul trucks x6, grader x1, low-profile dozer (CAT D6) x1, workshop service truck (International HV607) x1, scissor lift (Genie GS 4069RT) x1, light vehicles (Ford F150) x4, telehandler (Genie GTH 1056) x1, water truck (Freightliner M2 106) x1, explosive transporter x1, emulsion charger x1, low-profile crane (Power Star) x1, low-profile platform truck (CAT T40) x1; Open pit—drill (Sandvik DS 421) x1, haul trucks (CAT 777G) x3, excavator (CAT 374F) x1, wheel loader (CAT 988K) x1, dozer (CAT D11T) x1, grader (CAT 16M) x1, water truck (Freightliner M2 106) x1, lube truck (International HV607) x1, service truck (Ford F150) x1, forklift/telehandler (CAT TL1255D) x1, light vehicle (Ford F150) x1.

~500

Hard-rock lithium project (spodumene pegmatite) with mine and downstream electrochemical plant.

Planned spodumene concentrate and LiOH production

Crushing, grinding, spodumene concentration; downstream hydroxide processing

20t drill rig (1); 40t truck (2); 50t truck (5); 6-yard shovel (1); 1.5-yard spade (1); D10R dozer (2); grader (1); 8k water truck (1); light truck (2); explosives truck (1). Underground (owner-supplied) – Main ramp entry portal (1); electrical sub station vent 6.5 MVA (1); push-type air ventilator & heater station (1); mine rescue equipment (1); fueling station 20,000 gallons with dispensers (1); oil containers with dispenser (1); greasing station with dispenser (1); CS3 cassette carrier (MacLean) (1); Maxi Loader 5344 (ORICA) (1); EL3 emulsion charger w/ basket (MacLean) (1); ventilation door control (5). Underground (contractor mobile fleet) – cable bolter (1); hydraulic production drill (5); raise drill (2); jumbo drill 2 boom (2); LHD 17 tonnes (7); mine truck 40t (7); roof bolter (2); scissor lift (1); shotcrete sprayer (1); shotcrete mixer (1); loader Cat 988 (1).

Eastern Goldfields lithium mine JV with Ganfeng; managed by MinRes.

Crushing and dense media separation to spodumene concentrate; road haulage to Esperance

PLS flagship with two plants; world's largest independent hard‑rock lithium operation.

Crushing and DMS/flotation to spodumene; Pilgan + Ngungaju plants (combined up to ~580ktpa nameplate)