Latest reports suggest that the UK is well on course to gaining its first lithium mine in Cornwall after a British startup agreed a deal with a French mining company that could supply much of the country’s need for the crucial electric car battery mineral.
British Lithium has agreed to start a joint venture with Paris-listed Imerys that aims to extract 20,000 tonnes of lithium ore. The project which is expected to employ 300 people and produce enough lithium for 500,000 electric cars per year by the end of the decade, would require £575m in spending should it proceeds.
Lithium ions are a vital ingredient in the current generation of batteries for portable devices ranging from mobile phones to electric toothbrushes. However, vastly more lithium will be needed for electric cars as countries around the world phase out internal combustion engines.
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The agreement with Imerys, which is said to have a market value of €3bn (£2.6bn) and traces its mining history back to 1880, is a significant milestone in the race to build a viable UK lithium industry. The deal contrasts with the struggles of another startup, Cornish Lithium, which said in its annual accounts that there would be material uncertainty over its future if it did not receive £10m in bridge funding by July to buy it time for its next fundraising round.
According to reports, Imerys has had a significant presence in Cornwall for decades mining china clay for ceramics. Previous mining efforts have overlooked lithium, however, which was mainly used to treat mental illness before the lithium ion battery was invented in the 1980s.
Among other things, the UK government is hoping to spur the creation of an almost self-sufficient British battery supply chain to maintain jobs in the car industry, although only one large-scale battery plant, Chinese-owned Envision in Sunderland, is under construction in the country.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
