SolarWorld partners for lithium mining

The solar technology group will sell a share of 50 percent of its project in Altenberg-Zinnwald to Bacanora Minerals Ltd. Under the name Deutsche Lithium GmbH, the future joint venture will be domiciled in Freiberg, Saxony, and operationally controlled by Bacanora Minerals and SolarWorld AG together. The new partner will earn its share of the project in return for a cash consideration of EUR 5 million and the completion of a feasibility study on the project, which will take approximately 18 to 24 months. Bacanora Minerals will undertake all financial investments for the project. Furthermore, the partner has the option to acquire the outstanding 50 percent within a 24 month period for a mid double-digit million amount. Bacanora, a London listed company, with headquarters in Calgary, Canada, is an experienced resource developer focused on lithium and the Sonora region, Mexico. Dr.-Ing. E. h. Frank Asbeck, CEO of SolarWorld AG: “Lithium is a key raw material of storage systems. Being able to store and consume renewable energies 24/7 will give solar power another enormous boost.” That’s why SolarWorld started to explore lithium at Altenberg-Zinnwald on the German-Czech border in 2011. The deposit of lithium in the Eastern Ore Mountains is situated about 50 kilometers from SolarWorld’s site in Freiberg and is one of the largest in Europe. “Initiating lithium mining in the Ore Mountains has paid off. After we, as SolarWorld, have taken the first steps, our partner’s know how and financial means will now move this project forward. This will have a lot of positive effects for the region. SolarWorld will continue to focus on manufacturing high-quality solar power products that can be combined with storage systems and smart control applications,” says Dr.-Ing. E. h. Frank Asbeck.