The direct lithium extraction pilot plant has been designed to process Cornish geothermal waters using DLE technologies and is the first time that a DLE system has become operational in the UK. The £4 million (US$5 million) pilot plant is being supported by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) with £2.9 million from the UK government's Getting Building Fund. The plant was successfully commissioned at the end of March, on time and on budget.
Initially, the pilot plant will test GeoLith SAS's Li-Capt DLE technology and process the 140m3 of deep geothermal water successfully obtained during GEL's testing at its own United Downs site last year. This is expected to confirm that lithium can be produced in Cornwall from geothermal waters and the pilot plant is expected to provide sufficient information to enable the design of a commercial lithium plant in the County.
During the course of 2022, different DLE technologies will be tested, utilising the pilot plant, with a view to establishing the preferred technology for future DLE plants in Cornwall. The pilot plant has been designed to be as flexible as possible and has been constructed in standard 6.1m (20ft) containers, enabling relocation to different sites to test new boreholes if required.
In addition, Cornish Lithium has reached an agreement with GEL to acquire its 10 per cent shareholding in GeoCubed. Following the completion of this transaction, GeoCubed will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cornish Lithium.
"We are delighted to announce that the United Downs DLE pilot plant has been successfully commissioned on time and on budget. This is testament to the hard work and commitment of the GeoCubed team and our technology partners at GeoLith. The pilot plant will be a great asset for the company as we work to establish the most appropriate DLE technology with which to process Cornish geothermal waters," said Jeremy Wrathall, CEO and founder of Cornish Lithium.
"I am also pleased that we have been able to reach an agreement with GEL to acquire their shareholding in GeoCubed so that it is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cornish Lithium. This will allow us to fully integrate GeoCubed within Cornish Lithium and benefit from the engineering expertise of its team across our portfolio of projects. Importantly, all ten jobs that were created during the project will be retained in Cornwall."
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