As the world seeks to ramp up lithium-ion battery production, the UK’s role in the sector has been given multiple funding boosts with new developments at opposite ends of England.
In Cornwall, now known to have some of the richest deposits of the material in the world, a key shareholder in Cornish Lithium has exercised an option to invest another £9 million in the company.
TechMet has taken the decision after reviewing the Trelavour scoping study, which revealed that large quantities of lithium could be extracted from open-cast extraction of material from an existing brownfield china clay pit.
The investment comes in the form of new share purchases and marks the second part of an £18 million investment in Cornish Lithium.
Expressing his delight at the news, founder and CEO of Cornish Lithium Jeremy Wrathall said: “The Trelavour Project provides a significant opportunity to create additional skilled jobs in the St Austell region and to develop lithium on a commercial scale to service the UK’s growing battery industry.”
While finding sources of the material is important, the processing of lithium titanate and zirconate in refineries has become another major area of concern and interest, due to the fact that so far China has established most of the world’s refining plants.
However, this situation is changing rapidly as several firms are aiming to set up refineries in the UK.
This includes Livista Energy, which plans to set up a plant in Blyth, Northumberland. The company had already received £40 million from mining giant Glencore towards this project in February, but has now received further financial support from the government’s Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC).
A total of £43.7 million has been allocated by the APC, with Livista not alone among beneficiaries planning to develop Britain’s lithium industry.
Other projects the APC is supporting include two potential lithium mining operations in the Weardale area of County Durham, Geothermal Engineering’s feasibility study for a site near Redruth in Cornwall and projects in Tiptree and Cambridge aiming to set up lithium-ion battery recycling facilities.