Mineral exploration and development company Cornish Lithium announced a £53.6 million ($67 million) initial investment from a group of institutional investors.
The company expects the funding will significantly accelerate progress toward creating a domestic supply of battery grade lithium compounds. The investors are led by the UK Infrastructure Bank alongside the Energy & Minerals Group and Techmet.
The investment is part of a larger funding package of up to an additional £168 million ($210 million) in potential second-stage financing, which is expected to provide the equity foundation necessary for the company to achieve commercial production.
The company said its Trelavour hard rock mine development could generate £800 million of economic activity over its expected 20-year mine life. Development of its geothermal waters project portfolio will add to this, it said.
Jeremy Wrathall, founder and CEO, said: “Cornish Lithium has achieved its objective of defining world-class opportunities for lithium extraction in Cornwall from both lithium-enriched geothermal waters and from hard rock. It was therefore essential to secure funding from institutional investors with the financial muscle to bring our projects into commercial production.”
The investment will help get the hard rock lithium project to a construction-ready status and complete the engineering design work for a demonstration-scale geothermal waters extraction facility.
Green Lithium obtains planning permission
Separately, the Green Lithium refiner announced it had gained planning permission to build the UK’s first lithium refinery at PD Ports in Teesside.
The plant will use a non-acid leach process and hydrogen in the fuel mix, which it expects will help reduce carbon emissions – to 3.3 tonnes per tonne of lithium hydroxide produced. This compares to 16.2 tonnes typically produced in Chinese refineries, COO Cameron Tonkin told BEST in an interview in June.