The Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL) share price is charging higher on Wednesday morning.
At the time of writing, the lithium-focused mineral exploration company's shares are up 12% to $6.25.
This latest gain means the Vulcan share price is now up 125% since the start of the year.
Why is the Vulcan share price charging higher?
Investors have been buying Vulcan shares this morning following the release of the results from its 2021 Upper Rhine Valley bulk brine sampling.
According to the release, Vulcan collected a bulk (10,000 litre) brine sample from a recently drilled geothermal well in the Upper Rhine Valley. This is within 6km of the company's Ortenau Resource and license area.
The bulk brine sample returned a high grade of 214 mg/L Li and will be used in Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) piloting test work.
This means that Vulcan now has brine data stretching back to 1980 which shows very consistent lithium values in Upper Rhine Valley brine.
These results bode well for its Vulcan Zero Carbon Lithium project, which will be the largest lithium resource in Europe.
Management commentary
Vulcan's Managing Director, Dr. Francis Wedin, was pleased with the results of the samples.
He commented: "It is encouraging to observe high grade lithium, with exceptionally low impurities, in geothermal brine analysis such as this from our sampling efforts in the URVP. The low impurities are important as this increases the effectiveness of our DLE techniques."
"Results of this nature will be combined with seismic and historical drilling data, which will be used by our expert in-house geological team for production study work towards the Definitive Feasibility Study. This data collection and analysis is an important part of our strategy to become a major supplier of our unique Zero Carbon Lithium to the European battery electric vehicle market."
