Further details of plans to exploit deposits of lithium underneath the County Durham countryside have been revealed at a public consultation event.
Weardale Lithium wants to become a UK supplier of the element which is crucial to electric vehicle battery manufacturing. It is poised to submit plans for a test scale facility on the brownfield, former cement works site at Eastgate near Stanhope, which could initially create 20 to 50 jobs on site.
The firm, which is run by former investment banker and experienced natural resources consultant Stewart Dickson, has been trialling the effectiveness of different direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies to extract lithium from geothermal groundwater - known as brines - in Weardale. It wants to use two existing boreholes, originally part of a geothermal energy project spearheaded by Newcastle University and One North East, to extract the groundwater and transport it via pipelines to a processing plant nearby.
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Weardale Lithium says its plans negate the use of tankers on minor roads and will create maximum economic benefit locally by ensuring processing is carried out on site. Its proposals include use of the two existing groundwater abstraction wells, south of the River Wear; a buried pipeline taking water from the wells to an existing gantry over the river; a pipeline gantry across the River Wear using a conveyor bridge that previously took limestone from Eastgate Quarry to the former cement works; and the construction of the pilot processing plant on the former cement works site.
The firm says it has already identified routes to market and last year signed a memorandum of understanding with Tees Valley Lithium, which is hoping to establish the UK's first lithium hydroxide plant on Teesside with plans to import raw materials from its operation in Australia. It has also previously secured grant funding from the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) Automotive Transformation Fund.
Stewart Dickson, CEO of Weardale Lithium, said: “Engaging with our neighbours, supporters and stakeholders is a key part of delivering a project that will generate both jobs and economic prosperity in the area whilst securing the supply of domestic lithium, which is of strategic importance to the UK’s net zero strategy.
“We are keen to share our proposals with the community and look forward to welcoming visitors to the exhibition. We hope our application will gain their support and that the initial investment in lithium extraction can act as a catalyst to both grow the extraction process and attract other green technology operations to Weardale.”
The firm says its application will include risk assessments of ecology, noise, air quality, highways, landscape, heritage, groundwater, surface water and flood risk assessments.
