Extraction plant for lithium could bring 125 jobs
PLANS for a lithium extraction plant in County Durham could create up to 125 new jobs and deliver a £1bn economic boost to the region, the company behind the plan says.
Weardale Lithium Limited has submitted a planning application to Durham County Council for the phased construction of a lithium extraction plant at Eastgate in Weardale, County Durham, on the site of former cement works near Stanhope.
The Eastgate site has lain empty for more than 20 years since the cement works were closed by Lafarge, leading to the loss of around 200 jobs.
A year after its closure, efforts were first made to explore the geothermal properties that lay underneath Eastgate Quarry and in 2020 it was confirmed that lithium brine enriched with lithium – a chemical element vital for battery manufacturing and electric car development – had been discovered within the ground.
Weardale Lithium was the first company to successfully extract lithium from the groundwaters in the North Pennine Orefield. It plans to build a facility on the brownfield site for processing geothermal groundwater from existing deep, high specification, production wells nearby. The plant facility will form part of a scheme to regenerate the old works site.
A local consultation process was carried out ahead of filing the planning application to take the views of local residents and stakeholders into consideration, with the firm saying that the community engagement exercise proved positive.
Groundwaters will be transported from well sites through pipelines, cutting out the need for tanker journeys on minor roads, to the pilot plant. Once completed, the firm says it will be one of the most advanced lithium extraction plants in Europe. The site is sufficiently large enough for processing to scale-up lithium extraction, and also for other uses such as geothermal energy infrastructure, green technologies and associated business opportunities.
Not only can the site potentially act as a regional centre for producing lithium from multiple locations and sources, but also as a hub for business connected with energy transition and sustainability.
Initially, it is estimated the development plan will create 20 to 50 on-site jobs with additional employment within the local construction sector and supply chains.
Once scaled up to full commercial production, over the next four years, it could produce around 10,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate per year, creating around 125 jobs and generating an estimated £1bn of gross economic value for the North East region.
The application for the pilot plant follows more than three years of work in the area including trialling of multiple Direct Lithium Extraction technologies to find the optimal way to extract lithium from the geothermal groundwaters.
Stewart Dickson, CEO of Weardale Lithium, said: “This application for a pilot processing plant adjacent to existing wells is the next significant step towards establishing a facility for domestic lithium production from naturally occurring geothermal groundwaters in the North East.
“The development, if approved, will represent a multimillion-pound investment in Weardale and generate highly skilled jobs vital to the energy transition. This transition requires a significant amount of critical minerals such as lithium. By developing this project, the UK can move towards secure, domestic and fully traceable supply.
“We have long signalled our intent to redevelop the site at Eastgate and breathe new life into the derelict former industrial site, which, if our application is successful, will become a focal point for the UK lithium industry together with green energies and technologies co-located.
“We have been pleased to receive very positive responses from the local communities and parish councils during our consultation phases and look forward to working together to make this future facing project a reality.”
By developing this project, the UK can move towards secure, domestic and fully traceable supply Stewart Dickson