UK’s First Lithium Hydroxide Demonstration Plant Opened by Cornish Lithium

The UK’s first low-emission, lithium hydroxide Demonstration Plant has been opened by Cornish Lithium. Lithium is a vital element in the manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).

The new facility forms part of the company’s project in Cornwall which aims to reduce the UK’s reliance on carbon-intensive, imported lithium by extracting supplies of this critical mineral domestically in a sustainable manner.

From 2027, the project targets production of 10,000 tonnes per annum of battery-grade lithium hydroxide.

When combined with Cornish Lithium’s geothermal lithium projects, this creates a 2030 planned total of 25,000tpa lithium carbonate equivalent, meaning that Cornish Lithium alone expects to provide around 25% of all of the lithium needed by UK industry.

The Demonstration Plant takes lithium-enriched granite, mined from a former china clay pit revitalised by Cornish Lithium, and processes it to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide using an environmentally responsible processing technology, called Lepidico.

Cornish Lithium has the exclusive right in Cornwall's St Austell region to use the technology, which is expected to reduce carbon emissions by at least 40% compared to hard rock lithium mining elsewhere in the world.

The company is also pioneering the extraction of lithium from geothermal waters that run beneath the UK’s surface, with the potential by-product of carbon-free heat energy.

Jeremy Wrathall, CEO, Interim Chairman and Founder of Cornish Lithium., says: “Lithium is critically important to the manufacturing of electric vehicles, grid scale electricity storage and rechargeable industrial and consumer electronics. By 2030, it is expected that the UK will need c.110,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent.”

He adds: "The UK currently imports 100% of the lithium it uses, yet we’re home to the largest lithium resource in Europe with enough beneath our feet in Cornwall to supply over half of what the electric vehicle industry needs."

Cornish Lithium uses innovative and sustainable processes to extract lithium from both geothermal waters and hard rock in the historic mining district of Cornwall, UK.