Q&A: Integrated lithium production crucial for Britain

A number of British companies have sought to start production of critical minerals as geopolitical tensions and protectionism have started to roll back global supply chains. Argus spoke with Imerys British Lithium vice president for lithium projects Alan Parte about the need for lithium mining and refining in Britain and Europe. Edited highlights follow:

How does Imerys position itself competitively compared with other integrated lithium producers, particularly those in Australia and China?

Currently, no battery-grade lithium is produced in Europe, and all countries including the UK and France are competing with China for supplies from Australia and South America. Projects such as Imerys British Lithium in Cornwall and Emili in France will play a key role in the energy transition as well as UK and European independence on critical minerals.

Our ambition and standards in terms of environmental and social impacts are much higher than what can be found overseas. Our water consumption will be far lower, for example, and we will be able to lower the carbon footprint of lithium by up to half, owing to a reduction in distance travelled by raw materials and a greater use of renewable energy.

What are some of the key technological innovations you are exploring or implementing to improve the efficiency and sustainability of lithium extraction and processing?

For our Imerys British Lithium project in Cornwall, we plan to co-locate our quarry, beneficiation and refinery plants, which we believe is a world first. This substantially reduces the carbon footprint as we will reduce the distance the raw materials need to travel during the stages of processing.

Cornwall and Imerys are both well supplied with renewable energy and we will use as much of this as possible, always looking to increase over time. We also predict we can recycle our water and only use water drawn from Imerys' own reserves, not the local supply.

Regarding our Emili project in France, we are looking at 90pc water recycling solutions for concentration and conversion phases, with the choice to use waste water from a nearby water treatment plant at the conversion plant.

For both projects, we plan to use rail transportation to reduce the impact on local roads. In the UK, Imerys has an extensive network of private haulage roads, which will keep plant traffic away from small local villages. Imerys in Cornwall has its own private railway sidings from existing kaolin (soft clay) operations and this infrastructure can be utilised for lithium transportation. In France, mica concentrate would be brought in via pipelines before being loaded on to trains. Both projects will also aim to use an electric mining fleet.

How do lithium resources in Cornwall and the surrounding area compare with those in other lithium-producing regions?

IBL has a lithium resource of at least 160mn t, which will allow us to produce enough lithium carbonate for half a million electric vehicle (EV) batteries a year for more than 30 years. Emili will produce about 34,000 t/yr of lithium hydroxide, enough to produce 700,000 EV batteries a year. The two projects together will provide about 10pc of Europe's lithium needs.

How are you planning to integrate your production into the broader UK and European supply chains for EVs and renewable energy storage solutions?

We will direct our production to the UK and European supply chain. Several gigafactories are in progress or under construction in France, in the UK and other European countries. Several cathode active materials projects have also been announced in Europe.

Do you have any expectations for a new government in terms of support for a localised lithium supply chain and how can the UK improve development/operating conditions for UK lithium producers?

The UK government has been very supportive and we expect that to continue — in line with the Critical Minerals Strategy. This is the same situation in France — our Emili project aligns with the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act — pushing for at least 10pc of critical materials sourced locally and 40pc transformed locally.

In the UK, IBL has benefited from about £5mn of government grants for research and development. This has played a huge role in getting us to this point — where we have a fully functioning pilot plant — producing battery-grade lithium carbonate for two years now.

Do you plan on producing any other by-products and what would they be?

In the UK, we are looking at the potential of various by-products including tin, and in France potentially feldspar or feldspathic sand.

By Thomas Kavanagh & Chris Welch