Vulcan Energy rejects short-seller report

Shares in Vulcan stopped trading on Wednesday after having soared 82% this year, based on prospects Vulcan will develop carbon free lithium, vital to electric vehicle batteries, in Germany, near some of the European Union’s biggest automakers.

It has already signed supply agreements with automakers including Renault SA and Stellantis NV as well as Belgium’s Umicore, and counts Australia’s richest person, iron ore magnate Gina Rinehart, among its backers.

Short-seller J Capital Research had published the report without sending any prior fact-checking inquiry to Vulcan, the company said in a filing to Australia’s stock exchange.

It said the report did not appear to be based on reliable information and that it used “emotive, intemperate and imprecise language which could mislead investors,” in contravention of regulatory guidelines.

In the report, J Capital had questioned Vulcan’s ability to extract lithium at low cost with minimal environmental footprint.

Vulcan is one of a number of companies trialling direct lithium extraction (DLE), a method that uses less land and groundwater than hard rock mining and brine evaporation ponds – the traditional ways to process the white metal.

Industry analysts see it as a new, less emissions intensive way to help ensure lithium supply for the EV industry – if the technology can work on a large scale.