Cornish Lithium secures new investment to open the UK's first lithium mine

British company Cornish Lithium has secured EUR 62.1 million (GBP 53.6 million) to develop lithium mining in Cornwall, southwest England. Cornish Lithium will receive funding from the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB), which is funded by the Treasury. It will also receive financing from US investors as part of a larger package worth up to EUR 194 million (GBP 168 million).

The investment is part of an effort to strengthen financing for infrastructure projects related to the climate crisis and create a hub for supplying lithium from Cornwall to Europe. The funding package is expected to accelerate progress towards producing battery-grade lithium compounds in the UK. These are crucial for manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage.

Jeremy Wrathall, founder and chief executive of Cornish Lithium, said that it was "essential to secure funding from institutional investors with the financial strength to bring our projects into commercial production".

He added that the funds would enable the company to bring its project at Trelavour, near St Austell, to "construction-ready status" and allow it to "complete the engineering design work needed to build a geothermal water extraction demonstration plant".

The initial investment will be led by UKIB alongside US investment firms Energy & Minerals and TechMet (EMG). They focus on investing in clean energy technology, minerals and electric vehicles. TechMet's backers include the US government's development finance corporation.

UKIB and EMG will each invest GBP 24 million, while TechMet, the company's largest shareholder, will invest a further GBP 5.6 million, bringing the total investment in the business to around GBP 30 million.

Cornish Lithium aims to increase its workforce from the current 70 to more than 300 once commercial production begins. In June, its annual accounts warned that its future would be highly uncertain if it failed to secure bridge financing by July to give it time before its next fundraising round. The company plans to raise a further GBP 6.9 million by selling shares to retail investors, focusing on existing shareholders.

Cornwall's mining heritage comes back to life

Cornish Lithium is one of several companies seeking to revive Cornwall's 4,000-year-old mining heritage. Another British company, British Lithium, is also active in the region. It has partnered with French mining company Imerys to begin mining in Cornwall and produce enough lithium for more than 500,000 electric vehicles a year by the end of the decade.

Cornish Lithium is currently developing a total of 6 lithium mining and extraction projects, focusing on both hard-rock mining and new extraction methods. The Trelavour project is currently attracting the most attention. It uses a former kaolin pit near the town of St Dennis, where lithium is found in mica minerals in the granite.

The company began surface exploration here in 2018. The identification of the deposit followed extensive research into historical records and modern geological, geochemical and geophysical datasets. Lithium was successfully mined in the Trelavour Downs area during the Second World War. Initial work identified the Trelavour Downs kaolin pit as a high-priority site for exploration and development.