UK Enters Commercial Lithium Production with Geothermal Plant Launch | INN

The British Geological Survey has estimated that UK demand for lithium could increase between 12 and 45 times during the 2020s.

The UK has entered commercial lithium production for the first time as Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL) began operations in its plant at Cornwall, anchoring the government's hopes of a domestic battery metals supply chain.

The Redruth-based facility marks the country’s first commercial-scale output of lithium, a metal essential for electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems.

Initial production is set at 100 tons per year, with plans to expand to 1,500 tons annually within several years and to more than 18,000 tons over the next decade. That long-term expansion would require an estimated £640 million, or around US$860 million, in additional investment.

Beijing’s use of export restrictions on critical materials last year further sharpened the country's concerns about supply vulnerability. China currently controls about 60 percent of global lithium processing capacity and dominates much of the downstream battery supply chain.