First UK production of lithium carbonate for electric vehicles

Lithium carbonate has been successfully produced from two UK sources – one from Cornish Lithium’s Trelavour project site in Cornwall and another from Scotland.

This milestone follows an 18-month project by the Li4UK consortium comprising Wardell Armstrong International Limited, The Natural History Museum and Cornish Lithium Ltd. It is funded through the Faraday Battery Challenge under the auspices of of UK Research and Innovation. 

The study involved: 

1. Scoping covering sites hosting potentially suitable lithium mineralisation in hard rock and geothermal waters.
2. Field sample collection 
3. Characterisation and analysis of samples 
4. Evaluation and mineral processing of hard-rock samples and production of two separate lithium carbonate concentrates 
5. Assay of the two lithium carbonate products to confirm their purity as near battery grade

High-purity lithium carbonate is a raw material for lithium-ion battery cells, such as those used in electric vehicles.An important conclusion of this study is that Cornwall is the most promising area for a future lithium extraction and production industry.  

17 September 2020

Cornish Lithium grades - compelling resource

UK mineral exploration company Cornish Lithium states it has found globally significant lithium grades in preliminary sampling of geothermal waters.

News

Members only

7 January 2021

Go west - mining in Cornwall and Devon

Michael Schwartz looks at recent ambitious plans for mining in Cornwall and Devon in the South West of England, UK.

Article

15 January 2021

IOM3 Investigates... DuPont - supercars drive EV safety

Carlo Fiorella, Global Market Manager at DuPont talks about their technical partnership with the Renault DP World F1 Team, exploring how the two parties to solve challenges and push towards a shared goal of developing materials and technologies.

Podcast