First lithium mine to open in Cornwall as demand rises for car batteries

The UK is to gain its first lithium mine in Cornwall after a British startup agreed a deal with a French mining company that could supply much of the country's demand for the crucial electric car battery mineral.

- Jasper Jolly

British Lithium has agreed to start a joint venture with Paris-listed Imerys that aims to extract 20,000 tonnes of lithium ore, the companies said yesterday.

The project is expected to employ 300 people and would produce enough lithium for 500,000 electric cars per year by the end of the decade. If it proceeds, it would require £575m in spending, according to a person close to the project.

Lithium ions are a vital ingredient in the current generation of batteries for portable devices ranging from mobile phones to electric toothbrushes. But vastly more lithium will be needed for electric cars as countries around the world phase out internal combustion engines.