The revival of Cornwall’s mining industry has moved a step closer after a lithium company secured £53million of funding from the Government and two US groups.
Cornish Lithium will receive £24million from the UK Infrastructure Bank as well as cash from private firm Energy & Minerals Group and an existing shareholder, TechMet, whose biggest backer is the US government.
The money will be used to move one of its mining projects to the construction stage and complete design work for a pioneering scheme that could extract lithium that is dissolved in geothermal waters.
Smash hit: Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson (pictured) starred in the celebrated BBC adaption of the Poldark novels – set in the heyday of the Cornwall copper mining industry
Lithium is a crucial material used in electric batteries and ministers are keen for Britain to tap into its own reserves of the metal, which is in high demand worldwide.
Cornwall had some of the richest copper and tin reserves on earth during the 18th and early 19th century and the county’s mining technology was the most sophisticated in the world.
During its heyday, the region’s highly skilled miners were sent to Australia, South Africa and Mexico to help establish nascent industries.
In Winston Graham’s Poldark novels, set in that era, hero Ross Poldark’s family had made their fortune in Cornish copper mines.
The stories were adapted into two hit BBC TV series starring Robin Ellis in the 1970s and more recently, Aidan Turner.
Car makers and politicians hope the county, which has been mined since the Bronze Age, could become the centre of the UK’s battery industry.
The funding will secure the company’s future for the next two years. It could be followed by a second round of investment from the trio of up to £168million.
Cornish Lithium’s chief executive Jeremy Wrathall said: ‘This funding means we can continue the 4,000-year history of mining in Cornwall and secure the supply of critical minerals that will be needed to make electric batteries.
‘It is a transformational moment.’
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