(News Bulletin 247) – The industrial minerals and metals specialist has teamed up with a start-up called British Lithium and plans to start production on this deposit in 2028.

The French industrial minerals and metals group Imerys will exploit with the start-up British Lithium the largest lithium deposit in the United Kingdom, in Cornwall (south-west of the country), announced Imerys on Thursday.

The aim is to become the UK’s “first integrated battery lithium carbonate producer”.

Imerys, owner of land located within existing kaolin quarries, contributes its resources, for an 80% stake in the joint venture. British Lithium is contributing its lithium processing technology as well as the pilot plant built on site, for a 20% stake, a statement said.

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A gigantic deposit

Production should start in 2028, with the objective of reaching 20,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent per year, the quantity sufficient to equip 500,000 electric cars per year by the end of the decade, i.e. a third of demand. estimated in batteries in the UK by 2030.

The lithium deposit in Cornwall is estimated at 161 million tonnes with a content of 0.54% lithium oxide, which makes it possible to envisage “a mine life of more than 30 years”, assures Imerys.

This announcement is welcomed by the market, the Imerys share taking 4.3% on the Paris Stock Exchange this Thursday around

Reinforcement of British supply

Since 2017, the research and development company British Lithium, which employs 18 scientists and has a portfolio of British and international patents, has carried out drilling and exploration work on land owned by Imerys in Cornwall.

It has developed a unique process with a pilot production unit for battery-grade lithium carbonate from Cornish granite, according to Imerys.

The joint venture has received financial support from the UK Innovation Agency and the Vehicle Electrification Support Fund, the statement said.

As with the lithium extraction project in the Massif Central in France, called Emili, and announced by Imerys last year, this mine project will comply with the “Irma” standard, “high” social and environmental standards.

The Imerys group, which has 14,000 employees worldwide, employs 1,100 people in the United Kingdom, including 830 in Cornwall, in particular in five open-pit quarries, and in Devon.

“The partnership between Imerys and British Lithium will strengthen our national supply of essential minerals, a crucial step in the development of our cutting-edge industry and which will create the jobs of the future,” said British Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch, quoted in the press release.

(With AFP)