Trelavour Lithium Project: Feasibility Study (Part 1)

Cornish Lithium is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the commercial extraction of lithium and other battery metals in Cornwall. The Company has two workstreams in development: 1.) Extraction of lithium from geothermal waters at United Downs, near Redruth; and 2.) Lithium extraction from a hard-rock lithium mica deposit at the Trelavour Lithium Project, near St Austell.

The Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre estimates that the UK will need 80,000 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate equivalent (a simplification of all the potential sources of lithium into one, comparable, number) by 2030\. Domestic supplies are necessarily as there is expected to be a global deficit of lithium of -1,200,000 tonnes per year by 2035 (APCUK, Q4 2022). To mitigate the risk of British industries being unable to source their raw materials needs, Cornish Lithium aims to develop lithium deposits in Cornwall and produce battery-grade lithium for UK automotive manufacturers in 2026\.

The UK (and Europe as a whole) has no current domestic supply of lithium leaving the UK economy dependent on imports at a time when supply chains are increasingly fractured and uncertain. These supply chains are under scrutiny be the automotive industry and by governments, especially for lithium. The recent move by General Motors to invest in Lithium Americas represents a shift in how manufacturers view their raw materials supply. Meanwhile, the Chilean government has announced plans to exert greater state control of their large lithium resources which in 2022 constituted 28% of the global lithium feedstock (Source: APCUK, Q1 2022).

Cornwall has been identified as offering the potential for large scale lithium production (Source: BGS 1987) and highlighted in the top five granite-hosted lithium deposits globally by the United States Geological Survey.

The project will conduct work that will contribute to a Feasibility Study that will reduce risk and lower uncertainty regarding the viability of Cornish Lithium's Trelavour Lithium Project. The work in this proposal will focus on two aspects: a Resource Update and a Life Cycle Assessment. The Resource Update will enhance our understanding of the available lithium in the ground, how it can be extracted and how much will be delivered to market. The Life Cycle Assessment will quantify environmental impacts across a range of categories, whilst providing a benchmark of Scope 1, 2 and 3 metrics that will allow downstream manufacturers to better understand their supply chain and its impacts.