A mining company has raised nearly 拢1million to drill for lithium in Cornwall in what is being termed the 21st Century鈥檚 鈥済old rush鈥.
Cornish Lithium has successfully raised over 拢826,000 from shareholders to continue exploration for lithium in the Duchy, in both geothermal waters and in hard rock.
It intends to build on a successful drilling programme that concluded earlier this year.
Recent exploration has proved 鈥渉ighly encouraging鈥 and the company is now planning further phases of drilling as soon as conditions allow.
Samples from a recent hard rock drilling campaign are currently undergoing metallurgical testing and evaluation in Cornwall and Australia.
Lithium is used in an increasing number of devices, such as thermometers, remote car locks, laser pointers, MP3 players, hearing aids, calculators and particularly batteries, for example in backup systems in computers and in electric vehicles.
Jeremy Wrathall, Cornish Lithium Founder and chief executive, said: 鈥 Given the results from exploration activities, the company decided to offer shareholders the opportunity to invest further in the company and we are delighted with the result, during a time of huge uncertainty where investors are thinking carefully about where they deploy their funds.
鈥淔ollowing Brexit, and as the 海角视频 moves to reopen its economy after the Covid-19 pandemic, the 海角视频 Government is focussed on becoming a world leader in battery technology and electric vehicle manufacturing.
鈥淕iven this situation, it is now apparent that the creation of a battery and electric vehicle industry in the 海角视频 is more likely to happen if the nation has a domestic supply of lithium, especially if this lithium can be responsibly sourced with a low-carbon footprint.
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鈥淭his puts Cornish Lithium in a good position, as our project could revolutionise supply of lithium required for large-scale manufacture of Li-ion batteries in the 海角视频, aligning directly with key Grand Challenge Missions under the 2019 海角视频 Industrial Strategy.
鈥淏oth the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the Minister for Trade and Industry, Nadhim Zahawi, mentioned in speeches recently the importance of creating a domestic supply chain for lithium and other battery metals.
鈥淚n addition, the grant received for the 鈥楲i4海角视频鈥 project from the Government鈥檚 Faraday Battery Challenge Fund, in which Cornish Lithium is a participant alongside Wardell Armstrong and The Natural History Museum, highlights the importance that the Government places on the opportunity for a domestic lithium supply."
In April, The Faraday Institution examined the impact on demand for lithium, cobalt and nickel for electric vehicle batteries, as the 海角视频 moves to end sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035.
They concluded that action is needed now to iron out likely bottlenecks in supply chains, and identify Cornish Lithium as one of the 海角视频鈥檚 key commercial strengths in response to the upscaling challenge faced. The Institution called the hunt for lithium, cobalt and nickel the 鈥済old rush of the 21 st Century鈥.
