Domestic
lithium supply
We plan to extract lithium using a new process technology. This extraction method should produce fewer carbon emissions than other processes used worldwide.
The lithium produced will create a domestic supply of lithium for the UK and provide jobs in the region.
Public consultation
We held our first public consultation for the proposed Trelavour Lithium Project from 30th June and 9th August, 2025.
During this period, we shared our plans and welcomed your feedback to help shape the project's next steps. Our team will continue to engage with community members through our regular Community Liaison Group meetings, alongside the development of a formal engagement plan which will be published in due course. We look forward to further consultation opportunities in 2026, where we will share updated versions of our proposals.
Projected lithium production
We intend to produce 10,000 tonnes per year of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in Cornwall. By rejuvenating an existing pit, the environmental impact of our hard rock extraction is minimal. No new pits will be created, and much of the required infrastructure is already in place, including power, rail and road.
National significance status
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has decided that the Trelavour Lithium Project will be treated as a project of national significance for the following reasons:
- The project is likely to have significant economic impact and will be important in driving growth, nationally and regionally
- Its influence will impact on a region that is wider than a single local authority area; and
- It focuses on the extraction of a strategically important industrial mineral.
This means that Cornish Lithium need to apply for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to get planning permission under section 35 of the Planning Act 2008.
Unlike other planning applications, DCO applications are decided at the national level by the Secretary of State. Independent inspectors from the Government's Planning Inspectorate (PINS) will carry out a public 6-month examination of the application, before submitting their recommendations to the Secretary of State, who will make the final decision.
Local councils and communities have a very important role in helping to inform the evolution of the plans through a process that is set out in the Planning Act 2008 and associated guidance.
We are holding our first public consultation on our plans for the project between 30th June and August 9th.
Valuable by-products
In addition to lithium, Cornish Lithium’s hard rock production could create valuable by-products, reducing waste and benefiting various industries. Examples include amorphous silica for green cement, sulphate of potash for fertiliser, and gypsum for plasterboard.
Trelavour
Demonstration Plant
To extract battery-grade lithium from granite rock, several processing steps are required.
Launched in 2024, our Trelavour Demonstration Plant is the UK's first low-emission lithium hydroxide demonstration facility, marking a key step in the nation’s clean energy transition by 2030. Using innovative processing technology, the full-scale plant could result in lower carbon emissions compared to traditional mining methods, paving the way for future full-scale commercial production.
Hard Rock Project
Trelavour Community Liaison Group
At Cornish Lithium, we work closely with local communities through our Community Liaison Groups (CLGs).
Group members represent local towns, villages, communities and voices, capturing the opinions and interests of those who could benefit from or be affected by our projects.
At our Trelavour Lithium Project, meetings are held regularly to discuss the latest developments, share information and gain insights to cooperatively shape the direction of the project. The aim is to ensure the voices of local residents are heard and enable two-way communication throughout the project phases.
For more information about the Trelavour CLG, or to find out about how to join, please email us at: trelavourclg@cornishlithium.com
Stay informed with the latest CLG meeting notes.
Downloads
Trelavour
We are repurposing a former china-clay pit near St Austell to produce lithium through responsible hard rock extraction.
Consultation materials
We invite you to view and download digital copies of all our consultation material below.
Download our lithium processing information sheet
Frequently asked questions
Lithium is critically important to the growth of a commercially and environmentally-sustainable UK economy. Electric vehicles, grid-scale electricity storage and all forms of rechargeable industrial and consumer electronics, including our phones, all rely on batteries to store energy.
Lithium-ion batteries are the most efficient and technologically advanced battery solution that is used here in the UK and across the world. The 2024 UK Criticality Assessment, published by the British Geological Survey lists lithium as a critical mineral because of its relative scarcity, and the fact that it is in high demand.
Recent global crises show how being overly dependent on other countries for imports of critical raw materials, like lithium, can create problems, especially when there is high competition for global resources and when we have abundant UK supplies. The UK has its own domestic reserves of lithium, with the largest reserves in Europe in Cornwall – enough to supply around 50% of the UK’s annual needs by 2030.
Across its Trelavour Lithium Project and Lithium from Geothermal Waters projects, Cornish Lithium already employs around 100 staff members in total with about half based at the Trelavour Lithium Project. We are currently operating a Lithium Processing Demonstration Facility. This plant was launched in 2024 and is the UK’s first low-carbon, end-to-end, battery-grade demonstration facility, where rock is taken directly from the pit and processed to extract lithium hydroxide. The Demonstration Facility is housed in a building that was part of previous china clay operations and was repurposed as an example of how we can build on the heritage of mining in the clay country and enter a new era of the mining industry.
The demonstration plant allows us to test processes and technologies for the commercial phase. The facility is currently operational and will continue to operate into 2026. It provides critical data on the safety and efficacy of our processes to regulators, investors and community members and will inform the development of future project design.
Having completed a round of non-statutory consultation with the community we will now be reflecting on community feedback and adapting plans where possible to accommodate community needs. We will continue to operate our Demonstration Plant at the Trelavour site and in late 2025 we will advance our Feasibility Study and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), sharing updates as they arise. We will host regular community engagement events and a formal consultation period for public feedback with updates posted on this website.
The Trelavour Lithium Project has been designated a project of national significance, meaning planning approval will be decided through a Development Consent Order (DCO) at UK Government level. Cornish Lithium plans to submit its DCO application in 2026, after extensive consultation with regulators, stakeholders and local communities to shape and improve the proposals. The Non-Statutory Consultation, which Cornish Lithium conducted voluntarily, marked the first opportunity for the public to provide feedback on the project’s construction, operation, decommissioning, and local benefits.
Cornish Lithium is funded through a combination of private investment and crowdfunding. Our three key investors are:
The National Wealth Fund (formerly the UK Infrastructure Bank), the United Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund.
The Energy & Minerals Group (EMG), a US-based private equity firm focused on natural resources and critical minerals for the energy transition.
TechMet, an investment company supporting projects in the extraction, processing, and recycling of metals essential to decarbonisation.
Cornish Lithium and British Lithium are separate companies. British Lithium, which is part of French owned company Imerys, is developing a hard rock lithium extraction project near Roche, St Austell. Cornish Lithium is an independent company with its own hard rock project near St Dennis, St Austell, as well as geothermal lithium extraction projects in the Redruth area. We recognise the importance of Imerys British Lithium’s operations and we are committed to working alongside them to deliver the jobs, infrastructure and economic growth that the region needs by building a successful lithium extraction sector.
Cornish Lithium’s Trelavour Lithium Project alone is expected to produce 10,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide annually. This will considerably strengthen the UK’s critical minerals supply chain and reduce the UK’s reliance on importing carbon-intensive materials from abroad. It is also a significant project as it will reinvigorate the mining industry in Cornwall, creating a whole new sector focused on lithium, putting the region’s potential on the map and providing around 800 temporary jobs in construction and 300 careers during operations.
We are aiming for commercial lithium production at our Trelavour Lithium Project in 2029.
We welcome enquiries from individuals, school groups, and organisations interested in visiting our Trelavour Lithium Project by pre-booked appointment. Please note that it may not always be possible to accommodate visits due to operational reasons. Get in touch here to find out more.
We also invite you to attend our community open days. Details of upcoming events will be shared on the Community Events page and across our social media channels. Follow us on social media and sign up for our email newsletter to stay updated. You can find all the links here.
We already have a workforce of around 100 employees in total with around half based at the Trelavour Lithium Project. Hundreds more job opportunities are expected to be available both during construction and once the project is up and running. Around 800 temporary roles are set to be made available during the construction phase and around 300 high-quality, stable jobs throughout the 20-year operation of the project.
Our priority is to hire locally, with training and apprenticeships in place to support this. Cornish Lithium will seek to ensure these jobs create opportunities in the local area, including partnering with local schools and colleges, creating apprenticeship programmes and working directly with local SMEs. While some specialist roles may need expertise from outside the immediate area, many can be filled from within Cornwall and our goal is to create fulfilling career opportunities for this generation and the next in Cornwall.
These opportunities are designed to support Cornwall’s next generation with long-term careers. To stay updated and apply when roles become available, please visit our online careers page.
The project will create around 300 highly-skilled long terms jobs and generate up to £800 million for the Cornish economy over its 20-year life.We have also developed a dedicated Community Investment Strategy to maximise the positive impact for those who live in the vicinity of our projects. This is centred around the Cornish Lithium Community Fund which was launched in partnership with the Cornwall Community Foundation (CCF) in 2022. Cornish Lithium is proud to have already supported a diverse range of local projects - from heritage projects and community events to environmental and wildlife programmes.
Our plans are being continually reviewed and adjusted based on community feedback. Our stakeholder engagement team work alongside our Community Liaison Group (CLG), working with local stakeholders, including local ward councillors. We are open to increasing its membership, while being mindful of maintaining a manageable group size. We have held nine public consultation events to date as part of our non-statutory consultation process, helping to ensure clear communication and, where possible, collaboration with the local community. As well as the CLG, there are multiple ways to engage, including upcoming consultations in 2026. We encourage ongoing feedback to help shape the project.
Throughout planning, construction and operations, Cornish Lithium will be working with schools and heritage groups to protect Cornwall’s mining heritage, whilst building a new industry for the next generation. We are also proud to employ a large local workforce who are deeply committed to protecting the heritage and nature of the areas in which they live and work.
Our environmental team and ecologists have been studying local habitats and species on our site for several years. We are looking at how our work might affect wildlife, including noise, dust and lighting from operations. Important areas such as the St Austell Clay Pits Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and local County Wildlife Sites are part of this assessment. We are also committed to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) – meaning the environment will be left in a better state than before. This includes protecting and improving existing habitats, creating new ones, and working with groups like Natural England to make sure we not only follow regulations and best practice but also go above and beyond to look after the local area and its residents.
As a Cornish company, run and operated by people from the local area, we know there is significant local attachment to the sky tips as they represent a proud heritage in mineral extraction. However, after extensive investigation work and examining all options, there is sadly no way of securing the hundreds of future jobs by developing the site safely without removing the sky tips. We will be working with the local people over the coming months to identify how the history and heritage of the sky tips can best be recognised as part of Cornwall’s proud mining heritage. In addition to this, we are developing a project that we believe represents the sustainable future of mining in the county and the country, thus carrying on that proud tradition.
We will do our best to keep permissive paths open throughout the project. If temporary closures are required for safety, we will provide alternative routes and re-open paths as soon as possible where we can. We are also exploring a new 2.4 km mixed-use community trail linking St Dennis to Goss Moor National Nature Reserve.
Throughout the design of the existing plans Cornish Lithium have already ensured that the visual impact of the project is reduced significantly. This includes building on existing brownfield industrial sites, ensuring that new buildings are no taller than existing buildings, and making certain that key infrastructure is screened by either the existing topography of the site or introducing berms (embankments) and vegetation to do so. Cornish Lithium is also committed to retaining significant amounts of mature vegetation wherever possible. This wooded/scrub vegetation is currently very effective at limiting views into the site.
We will minimise dust using modern controls such as water sprinkler systems, covered conveyors, dust collectors, and modernised targeted blasting techniques. Air quality will be monitored at all times. Dust and emissions will be kept well below legal limits, supported by multiple air-cleaning systems. Our design phase includes identifying and minimising potential sources of emissions to ensure local air remains safe.
To minimise noise, blasting will occur only 2–3 times per week in controlled bursts. Noisy equipment will be housed in enclosed, insulated buildings. Noise and vibration are assessed in relation to nearby homes and wildlife, with measures in place to minimise and monitor impacts.
Waste materials, including sands and clays, will be safely stored and managed. Waste from the concentrator will be transported as a slurry by pipeline to the Goonvean pit where it will be placed as a slurry initially and then later it will be filter pressed and dry stacked. Hydromet waste will be transported as a damp sand by lorry to the Treviscoe pit where it will be dry stacked from the start. Both pits will eventually be filled in and restored.
We will minimise waste by recovering the maximum amount of lithium possible, optimising the quantities of reagents we are using and working to find commercial outlets for our byproducts. A recycling programme will also be in place throughout the life of the operation to deal with the typical waste streams generated from offices, workshops, and other facilities on site.
We aim to keep construction and operational traffic away from local roads and villages wherever possible. Options being considered include a short extension to the Cornwall Energy Recovery Centre (CERC) haulage route to avoid traffic entering villages , upgrades to the mineral railway, and a covered conveyor to move rock between the pit and processing plant.
