A PIONEERING minerals firm has announced that it has discovered significantly more raw material in the Clay Country from which to extract lithium, a key element in electric vehicle batteries.

Cornish Lithium is reporting a 50 per cent increase in the expected mineral resources that will be available at its Trelavour Lithium Project close to St Dennis, near St Austell.

The substantial upgrade follows extensive additional drilling, sampling, testing and modelling during the last 12 months.

The firm says the new level of mineral resources indicated will underpin approximately 10,000 tonnes per year of battery-grade lithium hydroxide production for at least 20 years.

The new calculations are a boost for the Trelavour Lithium Project Feasibility Study which is due for completion by the end of this year.

Cornish Lithium chief executive Jamie Airnes said the business, which at present runs a demonstration plant at Trelavour, was moving closer to commercial production from 2029.

He said: “This is one more step in Cornish Lithium’s plan to secure the UK’s critical minerals supply, jobs and industrial future.”

The drilling, sampling, testing and resource evaluation at the former china clay pit has been overseen and signed off by globally-recognised mining consultants.

The Trelavour Lithium Project produces lithium hydroxide as a final refined battery grade product with no dependency on overseas refineries.

A company spokesperson said: “Cornish Lithium is a pioneering mineral exploration and development company focused on the environmentally-sustainable extraction of lithium from geothermal waters and hard rock in the historic mining districts of Cornwall.

“Lithium is critically important to the manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs), grid-scale electricity storage, rechargeable industrial batteries and battery-related defence applications.

“The company has secured agreements with the owners of mineral rights covering a large area of the county of Cornwall and is using modern technology to re-evaluate the region’s potential to produce lithium and other vital technology metals in a low-carbon, low-impact manner.

“A secure domestic supply of such metals is considered crucial to the success of the government’s industrial strategy as the UK moves towards net zero and the production of batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage.

“The Trelavour Lithium Project is deemed a nationally significant project by the government. This is in recognition of the scale and importance of the project given its potential to drive economic growth both regionally and nationally via the extraction of a strategically important critical mineral.

“This designation also means that planning will be streamlined and determined through a single, unified consenting process.

“The demonstration plant has been funded as part of an investment package from a group of leading institutional investors led by the National Wealth Fund (NWF) alongside the Energy & Minerals Group (EMG) and TechMet.

“The hydrometallurgical section of the demonstration plant has also been partially funded via a grant from the government via the Automotive Transformation Fund Scale up Readiness Validation programme.

“The Trelavour Lithium Project will continue with enhanced consultation with local communities, stakeholders and other statutory consultees, such as Cornwall Council, throughout the development of the project.”