Lithium in Hard Rock
Potential exists to extract lithium from mica minerals within the granite rock which underlies Cornwall. Cornish Lithium is developing this opportunity at its flagship Trelavour project in the St Austell region of the County.
Cornwall is underlain by a mass of granite – the Cornubian batholith. This granite is one of five large scale bulk lithium-enriched granites worldwide (as mapped and highlighted by the USGS).
In Cornwall, lithium is contained within mica minerals (zinnwldite and lepidolite). Some Cornish granite is more highly enriched in lithium than others, and we are investigating the potential to produce lithium from such highly enriched granite at our Trelavour project.
Cornwall also has the highest heat flow in the UK due to the granite rock which underlies it. This is why there is so much potential for geothermal energy in the South West.
