This week (06/08/2020) the UK Government and Cornwall & IOS LEP announced plans to invest in the construction of Europe’s first geothermal lithium recovery pilot plant at a location near Redruth.
The project will extract lithium for use in electric vehicle and power storage batteries. This investment supports a £4m collaboration between Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL) and Cornish Lithium at GEL’s deep geothermal project at United Downs, which aims to demonstrate that lithium can be produced from geothermal waters with a net zero carbon footprint.
The lithium extraction pilot plant at United Downs will trial environmentally responsible Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology, and its suitability to extract lithium from Cornish geothermal waters. DLE technology has been developed by various companies for the extraction of lithium from geothermal waters in the United States, Europe, New Zealand and other locations globally.
The optimal DLE technology for Cornish waters is currently being selected, however the processes being considered utilise technologies, such as nanofiltration, to selectively remove lithium compounds from the water, rather than relying on evaporation and other less environmentally friendly methods. Once the lithium has been extracted, the waters will be returned to depth via injection boreholes - link - more like this - link
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