Cornish Lithium, the pioneering mineral exploration and development company, is pleased to provide an update on its activities since the start of the year. Significant progress has been made in both the Company’s lithium in geothermal waters projects and its Trelavour Hard Rock Project, both in Cornwall, UK. Critical minerals are of ever-increasing importance globally and Cornish Lithium is right at the centre of the UK’s efforts to build a domestic supply of lithium and other metals which are essential to the energy transition.
HIGHLIGHTS
Geothermal
- Cross Lanes Farm (formerly the site of the Company’s Twelveheads Project) selected as suitable site for a lithium in geothermal waters Demonstration Plant
- Planning process underway including engagement with the local community
- RSE Shears appointed to undertake project FEED (Front End Engineering Design) study
- Lithium concentrations and chemistry at Blackwater found to be consistent with previous samples of Cornish geothermal waters
- Planning permission obtained for next lithium in geothermal waters exploration site at Tolgus following community engagement
- Groundworks to commence shortly with drilling expected to start in May
- Drilled and tested a borehole at the Trelavour Hard Rock Project with valuable geological data obtained to refine the subsurface model
- Encouraging results obtained from testing utilising Evove’s selective membrane technology for lithium processing
- Completed on-site testing with Koch Technology Solutions (Koch) to further refine their Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology for use on Cornish geothermal waters
Hard Rock
- All elements of the hydrometallurgical section of the Demonstration Plant now on site and being assembled into final configuration. Concentrator section being constructed ready for commissioning
- Hydrometallurgical section partially funded via a grant from the UK Government’s Automotive Transformation Fund Scale up Readiness Validation programme
- Feasibility study being managed by Ausenco and on track
- Publication expected in early 2025
- Continued programme of local community engagement with Community Liaison Group established.
Corporate
- Jeremy Wrathall appointed as Chairman on an interim basis
- Ian Cockerill stepped down as Independent Chairman to focus on CEO role at Endeavour Mining
- Keith Liddell re-joins the board as a Non-Executive Director
- 2024 Cornish Lithium Community Fund grants awarded to 13 local organisations.
Jeremy Wrathall, Founder, Interim Chairman and CEO commented: ”I am delighted with the strong start to 2024. Following our landmark fundraise in August 2023, Cornish Lithium is poised to deliver a number of exciting project milestones over the course of 2024, including the commissioning of our Demonstration Plant at Trelavour. We have maintained the pace and momentum of project development across both our geothermal and hard rock lithium projects, and are now making significant progress towards key commercial development decisions in 2025.”
Q1 UPDATE IN FULL
Geothermal
Following the completion of the test work at the Company’s Blackwater exploration project, Cornish Lithium is pleased to announce that commercial concentrations of lithium were confirmed and that the water chemistry was found to be in keeping with that seen at previous exploration sites in Cornwall. However, whilst we saw encouraging levels of permeability, the flow rates were lower than the high flow rates encountered at Cross Lanes Farm (formerly known as the Twelveheads Project).
As a result, the decision has been made to locate a processing plant at Cross Lanes Farm. A planning application process is underway to allow for the drilling of two production diameter boreholes and the construction of a lithium production plant at this site. The plant will initially be constructed at a demonstration scale, with additional equipment added to create a commercial plant following successful operation of the demonstration-scale plant. Cornish Lithium has appointed the engineering firm RSE Shears to undertake the relevant studies for the processing plant and to liaise with the extraction technology provider, once this has been selected. A programme of community engagement to support the planning application has commenced.
The geothermal exploration team has also completed an exploration borehole at the Trelavour Hard Rock Project. The hole was drilled to a depth of 1,200m and achieved its aim of collecting geological data to augment Cornish Lithium’s subsurface model in the area.
Cornish Lithium plans to shortly commence drilling at Tolgus near Redruth, having secured planning permission to do so. Groundworks at Tolgus are due to commence shortly with drilling to start in mid-May.
The Company continues to evaluate the optimal processing flow sheet for extracting lithium from Cornish geothermal waters and is working with a number of possible technology partners across the world. The work programme utilising Koch Technology Solutions’ Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology has been completed with further optimisation work to be undertaken.
Additionally, off-site processing test work has continued with the British company Evove, which has generated very positive results and Cornish Lithium will look to continue this work with Evove, in addition to continuing work with KMX to evaluate the potential of their processing technology.
Hard Rock
Tremendous progress has been made with the construction of the Demonstration Plant at the Trelavour Hard Rock Project, as can be seen from the photographs below. The £9m Demonstration Plant comprises a concentrator section, which produces a lithium mica concentrate and a hydrometallurgical section that will produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide using the LOH‑Max® technology, licensed from Australian company Lepidico. Cornish Lithium selected the technology based on its exceptionally low carbon emissions, environmental benefits and its ability to deliver superior product quality from lithium-bearing mica concentrates. The process operates at atmospheric pressure and modest temperature, importantly with no requirement for roasting.
The hydrometallurgical section of the Trelavour Demonstration Plant has been partially funded via a grant from the UK Government via the Automotive Transformation Fund Scale up Readiness Validation programme. The process design package was provided by Strategic Metallurgy and the plant has been engineered and built on a series of ‘skids’ by Ai Process Systems Limited, a company based in Lancashire, UK. Process control systems are provided by Rockwell Automation.
Commissioning of the entire plant is on track to be completed in July 2024 and key information on the hydrometallurgical section of the plant is as follows:
- The Demonstration Plant will be the first continuous process testing of the low-carbon emission Lepidico LOH‑Max® technology for the extraction of lithium from lithium micas
- The Plant is planned to initially operate for 3,600 hours spread across 15 separate continuous campaigns
- During these campaigns, the hydrometallurgical plant will process 15kg of mica concentrate per hour and produce over three tonnes of lithium hydroxide overall during the process campaigns
- An on-site ‘state of the art’ laboratory has been constructed to confirm efficacy and efficiency of the Plant
- The Plant will enable training of team members to aid transition towards full-scale commercial production
- A dedicated Visitor Centre has been built so that the facility can be viewed by a range of stakeholders, including the community
- The Company has hired an additional 21 employees in 2024 to construct and operate the Plant with a further two hires to be recruited.
The development of the Demonstration Plant has greatly added to the process engineering and design, and will inform decisions to be made on the design and construction of a full-scale commercial plant. The Plant is expected to provide key operational data to support the Trelavour Project Feasibility Study that is being conducted for Cornish Lithium this year by Ausenco Pty Ltd.
Work has also continued with Mining Plus on the updated Resource Statement to support the Feasibility Study. Initial results are encouraging with the updated Resource expected to be announced in due course.
An active programme of community engagement continues, with a number of presentation evenings and community drop-in sessions organised. A Community Liaison Group has been formed to provide a forum for the community to discover more about the project and to provide feedback on Cornish Lithium’s plans.
Corporate
Following his appointment as CEO of the FTSE 100 listed gold miner, Endeavour Mining, Ian Cockerill elected to step down from his role as Independent Non-Executive Chairman of the Cornish Lithium board to focus on his new role. Jeremy Wrathall was subsequently appointed as Executive Chairman on an interim basis. A search for a new Independent Non-Executive Chair is underway and updates will be provided in due course.
The Cornish Lithium board was also pleased to welcome back former Director, Keith Liddell as a Non-Executive Director. Alongside his long association with the Company, Keith brings a wealth of knowledge of mineral extraction techniques and management of mineral projects worldwide.
In February, Cornish Lithium announced the recipients of grants from the 2024 Cornish Lithium Community Fund. Awards totalling £17,775 were made to 13 local organisations through this fund, which has been established in collaboration with the Cornwall Community Foundation.
The Cornish Lithium Community Fund supports the work of local clubs, charities and activity groups that seek to make a positive difference in the Gwennap, Blackwater, Chacewater, St Day, Carharrack and China Clay areas.
