Weardale Lithium has been granted permission to build a County Durham plant whih will create 125 jobs in the area. The company says it will operate as the ‘UK’s largest lithium extraction facility’ and will add around £1 billion to the North East’s economy.
Planned to produce at least 10,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate each year, Weardale Lithium added that it will “make a significant contribution” to ‘net zero’ efforts by accelerating production of electric vehicle (EV) power packs and battery energy storage systems.
Set to be constructed on a former cement works site in Eastgate, near Stanhope, Stewart Dickson, Weardale Lithium chief executive, said the venture marks a “significant milestone for the UK’s electrification ambitions”.
Integrals Power LMFP pouch cellMr Dickson said: “This is a notable step to establishing a robust, long-term and economically viable supply chain of critical minerals. The North East is well placed to be a centre of growing domestic lithium production capability, as the region has all the requisite enablers to deliver our ‘borehole to battery’ strategy. We can now move forward and scale up confidently, producing battery-grade lithium carbonate on-site using a proven end-to-end process.”
He added: “We are grateful for the support of Durham County Council and the parish councils and local communities in Weardale, which have overwhelmingly backed our plans.”
In a further development, multi-national firm KBR was recently appointed to provide technology licensing and proprietary engineering design for the factory.