Cornish mining will be 'backbone' of UK's economic success, says Industry Minister
Nusrat Ghani told ITV News Cornwall would be the 'backbone' of the country's next economic revolution.
The Minister for Industry and Economic Security Nusrat Ghani MP has praised the efforts of Cornwall's lithium extraction projects, saying the UK can't achieve net zero without Cornish mining.
During a visit to several of the Duchy's new generation mining sites, the minister took a tour of Cornish Lithium’s drilling project on the outskirts of St Dennis.
The Minister was shown around a demonstration plant, as the company prepares to extract the metal commercially.Lithium is used in the manufacture of electric cars, as well as smart phones and tablets, driving global demand for the metal.
Speaking to ITV News, Minister Ghani said: "We've got a fantastic automotive sector producing EV cars, and they need minerals.
"There is a massive global race to try and get hold of these critical minerals, and we can't constantly keep looking to Asia to get hold of them.
"The programmes of work taking place in Cornwall, are being mined to the highest environmental standards.
"The value remains here for the Cornish community, and we're not going to achieve Net Zero without Cornwall and Cornish mining.
"Once again Cornwall is going to be the backbone of the next economic revolution in the UK."
Cornish Lithium has been carrying out test drilling on leased land at several sites.
At Trelavour, on the outskirts of St Dennis, it plans to extract lithium from mica minerals within the granite rock which underlies Cornwall.
At United Downs near Redruth, the company is aiming to produce battery quality zero carbon lithium chemicals directly from the geothermal waters 1-2km underground.
CEO and Founder of Cornish Lithium Jeremy Wrathall told ITV News: "This project alone at Trelavour will generate 300 jobs, and we've already created about 40 jobs here on site.
"We've had some evaluations done of the total value add to Cornwall and the UK from this project alone, which is around £800M.
"It's a massive boost to the economy, and it also provides highly skilled jobs not seasonal jobs. We've got a lot of graduates that work for us, it really is highly paid and highly skilled."
Test drilling at Trelavour was completed in 2023. The company now plans to open a demonstration plant in May, with the aim of commercial extraction beginning in 2027.
A similar project in Stenalees, near St Austell is being developed by Imerys British Lithium, which has already created Europe’s only integrated lithium pilot plant.
The company says the next stage is a pre-feasibility study with the objective of building a plant capable of producing over 20,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate per year. It plans to be operational before the end of this decade.