The boss of one of the UK’s emerging lithium mining firms has spoken of his excitement about the future of the industry at a time of rapid developments in the UK.
Speaking to Proactive at the 2022 edition of Resourcing Tomorrow in association with Mines and Money, Cornish Lithium CEO Jeremy Wrathall said there is much to be very positive about, with the first production of lithium from the firm scheduled for 2026.
He explained that the event had seen the company being approached by various potential future partners in the car industry, showing that “lithium is the flavour if the month”. In particular, he noted, the government has “woken up” to the need to ensure as much lithium as possible can be produced in the UK in order to secure the future of the UK automotive sector.
With the economic case for the site in Cornwall – an established mining location that involves deepening an existing China clay pit – proving to be “extremely robust”, these are “exciting times”, he concluded.
Britain’s need for lithium titanate and other forms of the metal may be partly met domestically, but what is also important is the fact that the motor manufacturing sector is responding by bolstering its lithium battery manufacturing capacity.
Ford has just announced it is to increase its capacity for producing lithium batteries at its Halewood plant on Merseyside. It is investing a further £150 million in the project, taking total spend on lithium battery output to £380 million.
Once the extra capacity is in place, the Halewood plant will produce 70 per cent of the firm’s electric vehicles sold in Europe by 2026.
In between the mining and manufacturing comes the crucial step of refining, but Britain’s first two lithium refineries, based at the Tees Freeport, have just been given the green light. Both Green Lithium and Tees Valley Lithium plan to start production in 2025.