This Week (3.2-3.6) Overseas Lithium Highlights [SMM New Energy Overseas Weekly Highlights]

[French Lithium Company Launches Geothermal Well Testing at the Schwabwiller Site in Alsace]

The first geothermal exploration well drilled by the French lithium company at the Schwabwiller site in the Grand Ried department of Alsace, France, has begun well testing. This phase will last 3–5 weeks and is intended to verify the resource’s potential for geothermal heating and lithium production.

Drilling at the Schwabwiller site began in November 2025, with a target depth of approximately 2,400 meters. The project is expected to drill a pair of wells, with a bottom-hole spacing of about 1,000 meters. The drilling campaign is expected to take a total of seven months.

If results are positive, the French lithium company’s project is expected to provide geothermal heating for enterprises, farms, and local communities in northern Alsace. In addition, extracting lithium from geothermal brine will produce lithium with a lower environmental footprint, with carbon dioxide emissions reduced by about 70% compared with lithium currently on the market.

Source: https://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/

[Li-FT Power Strategic Assessment of the Yellowknife Lithium Carbonate Conversion Plant Project]

The global lithium chemicals supply chain is at a crossroads, with traditional production models facing unprecedented pressure from accelerating electrification demand. The market landscape is increasingly tilting toward integrated producers, which can capture value across the full chain—from raw ore mining to refining and producing battery-grade lithium chemicals. This shift reflects a broader strategic realignment across the industry: enterprises are enhancing operational resilience through vertical integration rather than relying on fragmented commodity supply chains.

Li-FT Power’s recently announced Yellowknife lithium carbonate conversion plant project is a representative case of this strategic evolution. The proposed facility targets annual production of 30,000 mt LCE, positioning the company within North America’s emerging battery materials ecosystem. This capacity scale reflects an intentional mid-end positioning, balancing capital efficiency with meaningful market participation.

Source: https://discoveryalert.com.au/

[Zimbabwe Clarifies Why It Hastily Banned Exports of Some of Its Most Critical Minerals]

Recently, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Mines, Polit Kambamura, reiterated this rationale, stating that miners’ under-reporting of declared volumes constitutes a serious problem that cannot be ignored.

He noted that the issue has become so widespread that the government was forced to bring forward the disciplinary timetable by one year.

The government had originally planned to begin imposing an export ban on lithium concentrates next year, but due to rising production and newly issued export permits, it moved to launch the ban as quickly as possible.

At a press conference after a Cabinet meeting in the country’s capital, Harare, Kambamura told reporters: “The ban will remain in effect until the conditions proposed by the government or new expectations are met.”

Source: https://africa.businessinsider.com/

[Rock Tech and Siemens Plan to Build a Lithium Converter in Canada]

The lithium converter that Rock Tech Lithium is developing in Guben, eastern Germany, is intended to serve as a blueprint for building a similar facility in Canada in cooperation with Siemens. The project will use Siemens’ digital twin technology to digitally replicate, optimize, and scale up the plant’s design and operating processes.

The lithium converter that Rock Tech is currently building in Guben, Germany, is designed for an annual output of 24,000 mt of battery-grade lithium hydroxide. The company said this will become the largest facility of its kind in Europe. It is expected to start operations in 2027. The target capacity is equivalent to about 30 Gwh of battery capacity, sufficient to meet demand for about 500,000 EV units per year.

Rock Tech also plans to build a similar facility in Red Rock, Ontario, Canada. Siemens AG’s technology will be deployed for the plant’s construction and operations. The two companies have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to establish a long-term, multi-phase strategic partnership focused on developing modern lithium converter capacity.

Source: https://www.electrive.com/