Powering up the future
MINER Cornish Lithium has begun production testing as it advances cutting edge plans to secure UK supplies of the critical mineral and produce commercial volumes by 2026.
Powdery, lightweight lithium’s power to store an electric charge makes it a key element in rechargeable batteries of all sizes. From grid generation and vehicles to electronic devices, it is a vital part of the world’s transition to renewable energy.
China is the leading supplier, but shortages dog the market. Cornwall’s lithium deposits are in its rocks and geothermal waters deep underground.
They could herald the county becoming the home of a new industrial revolution, reaping a host of benefits, from reliable and lower supply chain costs and domestic stability to new technologies and sustainable extraction processes that respect the environment and those living locally.
Cornwall was once a prodigious producer of tin and that wealth of experience is now making a valuable contribution to Cornish Lithium’s evaluation work.
“One ton produced is one less imported.We are playing to the UK’s chemical engineering strengths and are rejuvenating Cornwall’s 4,000year mining legacy with best practice and pioneering green technologies,” declares mining engineer and banker Jeremy Wrathall.
A former student of Cornwall’s Camborne School of Mines, Wrathall founded the business in 2016 and has set, as its first target, producing battery grade lithium hydroxide to serve the UK’s £67billion automotive industry.
The business has two extraction methods. One, Direct Lithium Extraction, involves drilling boreholes to access the warm geothermal water that contains the mineral. Lithium is then filtered out, involving processes that could also supply heat for communities and horticultural companies’ greenhouses as a by-product.
The other method operates in a repurposed china clay pit at Trelavour Downs where, using Australian company Lepidico’s low heat technology, lithium will be extracted sustainably from hard rock.
Battery-focused metals investor TechMet is its major backer, with an £18million funding package.The company will be looking to raise new funds and grow the team of 70 to 300 by 2026, when the hard extraction side alone is forecast to generate £250million of project value.
But once the lithium is ready for supply, it will need a cathode active materials producer and then a battery gigafactory. These are the industrial chain gaps the UK needs to fill.
“We could have a market for our lithium overseas, but exporting would be a crying shame,” says Wrathall. “We need a strategy to ensure it stays at home.We’re about securing a long-term future, not short term gratification.”