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In just a few years, a Cornish company that recently made a sensational announcement could start producing on the market – they can mine enough lithium in the area that not only could it be enough for the UK electric car industry, but It could also bring it in abundance to Europe. The key is the amount in deep geothermal waters that would be produced with new technology, avoiding the need to create huge evaporating lakes as in South America.
Lithium has become one of the most important materials in the electricity-based technological revolution. Battery production based on the widespread use of lithium-ion technology requires more and more. It is as unavoidable in mobile phones as it is in electric cars. Although various alternative energy storage solutions are being developed around the world, recently compiled by Origo, the world continues to demand more and more lithium.
The main suppliers of the global market are the countries of South America, followed closely by China and Australia. At the same time, South America is home to a significant part of the world’s lithium reserves, estimated at about half. As the exposure of the world market to these countries is very high, any extraction site that can compete with Bolivia, Argentina and Chile, the countries of the Lithium Triangle, is of great importance in terms of quantity and security of supply.
That’s why the September announcement from a company called Cornish Lithium may merit special attention in the following years: globally significant “ The lithium reserves were found in the south-western corner of England, in the county of Cornwall, north of Redruth.
Can geothermal lithium get into the batteries of the future?
The Cornwall area has been known for its precious minerals and metals since ancient times. At the same time, tin and copper mining was also significant in the area. The presence of lithium was known in the past, but as there was no adequate demand, its industrial extraction did not take place.
That will surely change now.
Cornish Lithium would produce lithium here with an innovative solution, namely from the geothermal waters that run under the county, drawing them from its network. To implement the idea, they collaborated with a company with extensive experience in exploiting geothermal potential.
The project, which also receives funding from a London Government program, aims to build a pilot plant in which valuable raw material would be extracted from the water extracted from the rocks without causing major disruptions to the soil structure.
This solution would also avoid the construction of evaporator ponds, which are often seen in the lithium regions of South America, which are used there to extract moisture from the tanks.
The company estimates the project budget to be £ 4 million, roughly HUF 1.5 billion.
A special addition to all this is the fact that the company recently announced that the involvement of small investors in financing the initial works and the first phases was more successful than expected.
The company wanted to attract £ 1.5 million in funding through an online campaign. This goal was reached 30 minutes after the launch of the campaign and, before long, 2,400 investors voted for the company for a total of almost £ 4 million.
According to the company, the lithium concentration in geothermal waters is very high, with samples taken from a few hundred meters or 5 kilometers deep. This definitely looks promising from a business point of view.
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Never better time
The future launch of lithium mining in Cornwall is particularly interesting in light of the recent adoption by the EU of a new action plan to reduce exposure to critical raw materials such as lithium. And the British government, by attributing similar importance to it, classified it as strategically important.
And Cornish is not humble with the markers on the Cornwall opportunity.
Business leaders believe that raw material that can be mined from the depths can meet the UK’s total need for the electric revolution, particularly in electric car manufacturing. And although the British have left the EU, Later, Cornwall could become one of the most important suppliers for a community of up to 27 member states, as the large European car factories are also increasingly turning to half of hybrid and electric motors.
And Europe now buys about 75 percent of the lithium produced here from Chile. Obviously, it could bring a big shakeup in supply chains if large end-users could buy car battery raw materials much closer geographically.
According to an organization called Transport & Environment in Englandthis year, one in ten vehicles sold in Europe will be electric or hybrid, a significant increase from the previous year.
Analysts predict that the electric car market will expand by 15 percent next year, and this expansion is offset by the fact that the EU wants to cut the continent’s CO2 emissions with strict emissions regulations, and large manufacturers they cannot avoid complying with them.
Last but not least, starting production on its own would create jobs, and even if battery production could be installed in Cornwall, it would mean the creation of thousands of new jobs, The Guardian writes on local expectations.
In any case, the company planning the works in Cornwall is very optimistic about the much more environmentally friendly technology than before, the staggering interest from investors and the expected rise in the electric car market. The company plans to enter the world famous London Stock Exchange from 2022, and commercial sales of lithium from geothermal waters will begin in the next three to five years.
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