Cornish Lithium Ltd has revealed the results of preliminary sampling of deep geothermal waters at the United Downs Deep Geothermal Power Project near Redruth, Cornwall.
Initial results indicate some of the world’s highest grades of lithium and best overall chemical qualities encountered in published records for geothermal waters anywhere in the world.
Geothermal waters which contain lithium are very different from other occurrences of lithium in brine given that the same water can be used to generate zero-carbon electrical power and heat.
The results showed an average lithium concentration of 220 milligrams per litre (mg/L), with some concentrations running as high as 260 mg/L.
“This is an exciting step towards the realisation of low-carbon lithium extraction from geothermal waters in Cornwall, and compliments Cornish Lithium’s work to date on exploring for lithium contained within shallower geothermal waters in the county,” said Cornish Lithium’s chief executive Jeremy Wrathall.
“The pilot lithium extraction plant, part funded by the UK Government, that we will develop with Geothermal Engineering Ltd at the United Downs Deep Geothermal Power Project will allow us to evaluate green direct lithium extraction technologies which will bring us another step closer to commercial production of lithium in Cornwall.”