Britain’s nascent lithium mining industry has received major backing from the UK’s new vehicle to channel infrastructure investment.
In what is its first direct equity stake, UK Infrastructure Bank has joined Energy & Minerals Group (EMG) and Techmet in pumping £53 million into Cornwall-based miner Cornish Lithium.
The bank will put in £24 million which will be matched by EMG with Techmet investing US$7 million (£5.6 million) to take its total investment to US$30 million.
Cornish Lithium added the investment is the initial part of a larger funding package of up to an additional US$210 million (£168.0 million) of second-stage financing, to achieve commercial production.
The government said the funding would "support the development of the UK’s critical minerals supply chain and will accelerate growth towards the commercial production of lithium, vital for the UK’s transition to net-zero".
Privately owned with Techmet its largest shareholder, Cornish Lithium wants to produce about 8,000 tonnes per year of battery-grade lithium hydroxide, currently the core component of batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs), from its hard rock deposit at Trelavour Downs.
Jeremy Wrathall, founder and chief executive of Cornish Lithium said: “Cornish Lithium has achieved its objective of defining world-class opportunities for lithium extraction in Cornwall from both lithium-enriched geothermal waters and from hard rock.
"It was therefore essential to secure funding from institutional investors with the financial muscle to bring our projects into commercial production."
UK Infrastructure Bank's chief executive John Flint added: "Globally the supply of lithium is far outpaced by demand, and yet in the UK it remains a nascent market.
"Our investment ... will greatly accelerate domestic production of a mineral which is critical to the future of EV battery production and decarbonisation of the transport sector."
Launched in June 2021, the UK Infrastructure Bank is tasked with providing £22 billion of infrastructure finance for projects in Britain through the private sector and local government