Cornish Lithium Ltd is to accelerate the Trelavour hard rock lithium project near St Austell, following the successful production of nominal battery-grade lithium hydroxide.
This was achieved using proprietary L-Max and LOH-Max process technologies owned by Lepidico Ltd (ASX:LPD) on lithium mica samples obtained during the maiden hard rock lithium drilling programme earlier this year.
Cornish Lithium has now acquired a technology licence from Lepidico which provides Cornish Lithium with an innovative and environmentally responsible metallurgical processing solution for the Trelavour project.
The company can now proceed immediately towards bulk metallurgical testing and the construction of a pilot plant using Lepidico’s proprietary L-Max and LOH-Max technologies.
The aim is to accelerate domestic production of battery quality lithium chemicals for the UK automotive and battery industry, as well as to generate a significant number of skilled jobs in the St Austell area of Cornwall.
The licence to the L-Max and LOH-Max technologies will allow development of the low-carbon extraction of lithium from zinnwaldite and polylithionite mica ores in the St Austell region.
Work so far has indicated the potential of this technology to produce battery-grade lithium in Cornwall without the need for further refining, thus offering a complete on-site solution.
The licence is exclusive to Cornish Lithium and covers the entire St Austell granite region, an area of approximately 93 square kilometres.
“We are delighted to have acquired a licence from Lepidico that enables Cornish Lithium to fast track the hard rock Trelavour project towards commercial production of high purity lithium chemicals for the UK battery industry,” said Cornish Lithium chief Jeremy Wrathall in a statement.
“We look forward to active collaboration with Lepidico and to optimising their processes for zinnwaldite and polylithionite mica ores in Cornwall. The next phase of work, which will shortly commence at Trelavour, will run in parallel with studies which continue to advance the company’s lithium in geothermal waters projects across Cornwall.”
Cornish Lithium has paid £2.3mln to Lepidico in order to secure a 15-year royalty-free licence. The company has also acquired a two-year option to purchase 100mln shares in Lepidico at an exercise price of A$0.016 per share.
If exercised this would give Cornish Lithium a stake of 1.9% in Lepidico.
The purchase of this licence has been possible due to the additional capital raised in the recent £5.2mln Crowdfunding exercise. The purchase will not adversely affect Cornish Lithium’s other planned workstreams.