FT: Lithium exploration may begin beneath Volkswagen, BMW factories in Europe

An American startup, Atana Elements, is planning to begin exploration and potential extraction of lithium directly beneath industrial sites in Germany and Poland where factories of Volkswagen and BMW are located, the Financial Times (FT) reports.

According to the publication, the company has secured exploration licenses covering an area of about 1.5 million acres in regions around Salzgitter in Germany and Wrocław in Poland. The project aims to reduce Europe’s dependence on imports of critical minerals, particularly supplies from China.

The fact that exploration may take place beneath industrial facilities already using lithium in battery production is described by the Financial Times as coincidental. The startup is cooperating with Chilean mining company Antofagasta plc and is using historical geological data alongside artificial intelligence technologies to identify promising deposits.

Atana Elements estimates that it could extract up to 26 million tonnes of lithium over the next 20 years across the two sites. However, analysts cited by the FT stress that the project is still at an early stage, and any assessment of actual production volumes remains premature.

By Jeyhun Aghazada