Why Does It Matter That Lithium Can Be Found In The UK?
Having as many parts of your supply chain as close to each other as possible is a critical element of reducing costs, improving turnaround times and reducing vulnerabilities in your supply chain, whether you require titanates, electronic raw materials or critical components for batteries.
With the future of transportation being battery-powered, there is a huge demand for batteries in the UK. However, much of the supply is provided in countries such as China, South Korea and the United States, with one of the few British attempts collapsing into administration before producing a single battery cell.
This, however, has made the news that lithium hydroxide has been sourced, mined and refined in the UK for the first time particularly welcome, and could prove to be a game changer if able to be applied at scale.
The company that has managed this is based in Cornwall, where Europe’s largest lithium deposits are found in granite and through brine water rich in lithium.
Whilst the existence of lithium in Cornwall has been known for many years, actually being able to extract and refine it into the hydroxide salt used for battery production has been somewhat more difficult.
However, a startup based in Cornwall claims that they can produce up to ten per cent of the UK’s total demand for lithium by themselves, and that Cornwall could potentially supply half of Britain’s current demand by itself if produced at scale.
The approach the current startup uses is by mining a nearby clay pit of granite, before crushing the rocks into a fine sand and mixing it with chemicals and water to create a brine of lithium concentrate. Once this is dissolved in acid, it can be purified to produce the final product.
The success of this plant is somewhat critical not only for energy security but also to minimise the biggest environmental cost of green energy and transportation, which is the pollution caused by mining and transportation.
