Materials handling
“Without a transparent or localised supply chain, cells are unlikely to meet rules of origin thresholds to support exports – for example, 80% of UK-manufactured cars are currently exported,” Glover adds. “There is therefore a drive to increase the proportion of the supply chain that is based in the UK to capture more of that value.”
Capturing more value
The UK government has been on the case, though – its Critical Materials Strategy, unveiled in July this year, made a start in terms of adopting a more strategic approach to global producer and supply chain issues.
“It provides a sound analysis of the challenges and explores a broad range of opportunities and interventions that, taken in combination, have significant potential to improve the resiliency of supply chains,” Glover explains.
What this means at the coalface is that the UK’s pockets of mineral wealth need to be exploited with domestic supply chains developed in tandem with more diversified, resilient and transparent global supply chains. Clearly, collaboration will be key. It also requires the provision of financial support and funding mechanisms, cutting barriers to exploration and extraction, and promoting the UK as a strategic location for refining, midstream materials and manufacturing, according to Glover. The main issue here is that many of the processes involved – enabling the creation of new supply chains – have yet to be scaled up commercially, which is why many BEV manufacturers would remain beholden to a relatively small base of suppliers over the short to medium term. At the production end of the lithium and BEV supply equation, for example, there is significant activity, with Cornish Lithium and the rival British Lithium looking to exploit substantial reserves of the metal in Cornwall from granite, as well as geothermal brines.
“The presence of lithium in geothermal waters in Cornwall was first identified by Professor Miller of Kings College in 1864 when he sampled and analysed water from a Cornish copper mine,” notes Jeremy Wrathall, founder and CEO of Cornish Lithium. “The process of extracting lithium from geothermal waters in Cornwall involves drilling into naturally occurring fractures beneath the surface and pumping the lithium enriched water to the surface for processing.”
Globally significant
After taking samples back in 2020, from 600m to 5.2km deep, Cornish Lithium reported globally significant concentrations of lithium at 220mg/l with low concentrations of dissolved fluids relative to other geothermal waters in the world.
World Mining Frontiers /
www.nsenergybusiness.com
Crucially, ultra-low concentrations of magnesium – which makes processing more expensive – were also reported.
Once the water is at the surface, then the lithium is extracted using Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology, the ‘post-lithium’ water is then re-injected into the ground. The process also allows for heat to be extracted from the water, which can then be used to decarbonise industry or heat homes.
At Cornish Lithium, the material is extracted using Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology.
“Estimated lithium consumption in the UK automotive industry is expected to be around 80,000t by 2030.”
Jeremy Wrathall
In the meantime, a scoping study funded by the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) in Q3 2022 examined the economics of producing battery-grade lithium hydroxide at the company’s Trelavour Hard Rock Project in the St Austell region. It concluded that 1.25 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) ‘run of mine’ – ore in its natural, unprocessed state – over the course of a 20-year mine life would be feasible, which would result in an average of 7,800tpa of lithium hydroxide. That project, due to start production in 2026, has also been identified as benefiting from its close proximity to existing infrastructure, including power, rail, road and port facilities. “It is also possible we will be able to produce small amounts of lithium from our geothermal water projects by 2025,” says Wrathall. However, he notes, “estimated lithium consumption in the UK automotive industry is expected to be around 80,000t by 2030; hence we will only be able to supply a small amount of the overall demand and that is a significant problem for the UK automotive industry.” Yet, British Lithium, which was already manufacturing 5kg of lithium carbonate per day in
98% European Commission 21,000t
The amount of battery-grade lithium carbonate that will be produced annually by 2030 at British Lithium’s planned plant.
British Lithium 29
The percentage of the EU’s supply of rare earth elements (REE) that come from China.
Jason Benz Bennee/
Shutterstock.com
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