Prime Lithium, a subsidiary of Deutsche Rohstoff AG, is planning to produce high-quality lithium to power 500,000 electric vehicles (EVs) per year at the Stade Chemical Park near Hamburg, Germany. The company aims to establish a pilot plant on-site by the end of 2025 and position itself as a ‘key player in Europe’s battery value chain’ by 2030.
Led by former Bayer manager and Lanxess CEO Axel Heitmann, Prime Lithium, founded in 2021, intends to operate its first production plant, named ‘Train 1,’ by 2030, with the possibility of additional factories to follow. Potential customers for lithium from Stade include battery cell producers such as BASF, Northvolt, and VW, according to German Manager Magazin.
“We are determined to supply the European market with lithium. We place a strong focus on processes and technology to improve efficiency and sustainability,” said Heitmann, as quoted on the Prime Lithium website. The production site in Stade, where production will be set up, is reported to belong to the US company Dow Chemical, with 22 hectares of land contractually reserved for use, according to Manager Magazin.
Prime Lithium AG was established to be one of Germany’s first production companies for lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM), aiming to bridge the gap between the raw materials industry and the European value chain in electromobility. The company’s interdisciplinary team of chemists and process engineers, based at the Prime Lithium Research and Development Center in Stade since July 2023, utilizes state-of-the-art equipment and complex simulation methods to address chemical and process engineering tasks.
While Prime Lithium does not disclose specific details of the production process, the company aims to optimize the ‘soda leach process’ to achieve the highest possible and consistent quality. The company also aims to set a counterpoint to the neglect of fundamental principles of chemical production globally due to the sharp rise in demand for lithium.
Manager Magazin highlights a new production process that could make Prime Lithium independent of the properties of different spodumene, allowing for processing of different lithium rocks and more economical and energy-efficient production compared to global competition.
Deutsche Rohstoff AG, the parent company, is a listed company based in Mannheim, Germany, primarily active in the US oil and gas production sector. Deutsche Rohstoff owns 85% of Prime Lithium, with the remaining 15% held by CEO Heitmann.
