A Cornish mining firm has appointed a top industry professional as it prepares to dig for lithium in what’s been dubbed the “21st Century’s gold rush”.
British Lithium Ltd (BLL) has appointed John Walker as strategic adviser, effective immediately, as it inches closer to hard rock lithium extraction.
The Cornishman started his career at mining giant Imerys, in St Austell, in 1990 and went on to become general manager of the company’s tableware division, based in Belgium, before moving to the US and taking charge of Imerys North American Ceramics.
In 2011, he joined The Quartz Corp (TQC) and led the implementation of a significant expansion of the company’s production capacity and was subsequently appointed chief executive.
TQC is a joint venture between Imerys and Norsk Mineral that supplies high-purity quartz to the solar, semiconductor and optical markets. During six years in that role, Mr Walker oversaw TQC’s development from new entrant to a global market leader.
He will now draw on his wealth of experience to assist BLL as the company moves towards production, which also includes his role as chairman of Exawatt, a provider of strategic consulting and research in the battery, power electronics, electric vehicle and solar photovoltaic (PV) industries.
“I’m delighted to be working with BLL at such a milestone moment in their development,” said Mr Walker.
Lithium is a highly reactive and relatively light metal that is ideal for use in batteries – including those that power electric cars. Whilst 2020 has seen a dramatic decrease in the number of petrol and diesel cars sold, sales of zero-emission vehicles increased by nearly 160%.
Cars represent the UK’s largest export by value and car manufacturers co-locate with battery makers. A number of large lithium-ion battery plants are already under construction in Europe, with two gigafactories being proposed for the UK.
“Over the past three years, BLL has been quietly getting on with the job of testing a unique process for extracting lithium from micaceous granite,” said Mr Walker.
“There is no battery-grade lithium production anywhere in Europe and the advantages of establishing an operation capable of producing 20,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate in Cornwall are huge – not just for the local community but for the whole of the UK.
“That’s why BLL’s plans are attracting so much investment interest at national and international level and why I’m passionate about being involved in what I regard as an unfolding story of technological and metallurgical success.”
BLL was recently awarded £500,000 to research and develop hard rock lithium extraction. The grant from InnovateUK will help it work rapidly toward establishing the UK's first quarry and refinery, to produce the lithium required for the transition of the UK from hydrocarbon to electric mobility.
The company is a pioneer of novel technology for the concentration of lithium mica from Cornish granite and the sustainable extraction of battery-grade lithium.
It was the first company to drill a hard-rock lithium deposit in the UK, and the only lithium developer with its own in-house laboratory in Cornwall.
“We’re delighted to welcome John to our team,” said BLL chief executive Andrew Smith. “He has enormous expertise in our sector, knows Cornwall well and has the knowledge and contacts we need to help BLL progress from meticulous analysis and economic feasibility to operational status within the next three years.”
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