The company has secured $67m (£53.6m) of investment led by the UK Infrastructure Bank, in what many are describing as a much-needed boost to efforts to extract the metal that is used for making vehicle batteries.
The funds from the Treasury-funded bank and other investors are part of a larger funding package of up to $210m (£168m) and will help speed up the mining of battery-grade lithium compounds, which are crucial for both EV batteries and renewable energy storage.
Other investors in the funding round include Energy & Minerals Group (EMG), a US private investment firm focused on energy and minerals, and TechMet, which invests in clean energy and electric vehicle technologies.
As a result of this funding Cornish Lithium will look to boost its current 70-strong workforce to more than 300 people once it begins commercial production.
With the drive for electric vehicles lithium plays a critical part in battery technology, but not only in EVs but in other devices such as smartphones.
Another company, British Lithium, is working with the French mining firm Imerys to start a mine in Cornwall and said that it is looking to extract enough lithium to power 500,000 electric cars a year by the end of the decade.
The news of this investment is certainly a boost for the UK EV and battery industries and coming on the heels of Tata’s plans to build a car battery gigafactory in Somerset suggests that the UK is finally putting in place the necessary infrastructure to support EV manufacturing in the UK and to support the UK’s transition towards net zero.
