5 North Coast Consulting, Mount Pleasant Eco Park, Chapel Hill, Porthtowan, Cornwall, UK. 6 Satellite Applications Catapult, Harwell, UK. The âLithium Projectâ ...
Combining airborne geophysics and satellite imagery to explore for lithium brine at depth in Cornwall, SW England C. M. Yeomans1,2, L. Bateson2, C. Harker3, Kathy Hicks4, Kim-Marie Colthier5, R.K. Shail1, J. Wrathall3, A. Hartwell6 and the “Lithium Project” team 1
Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, UK British Geological Survey, Environmental Science Centre, Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, UK 3 Cornish Lithium Ltd, Tremough Innovation Centre, Penryn, UK 4 Carrak Consulting, Laburnum House, Vogue, St Day, Redruth, Cornwall, UK 5 North Coast Consulting, Mount Pleasant Eco Park, Chapel Hill, Porthtowan, Cornwall, UK 6 Satellite Applications Catapult, Harwell, UK 2
The “Lithium Project” (or "Space Enabled Exploration And Monitoring Of Cornwall Lithium Resources" to give its full title) is a government-industry-academia collaborative research project funded by Innovate UK through the Satellite Applications Catapult. The work presented here is from Work Package 2 (WP2), which aims to identify indicators for prospective lithium brine at depth. WP2 will combine Tellus South West airborne geophysical data with newly acquired high resolution satellite products to explore for a new lithium resource. Lithium is an important metal in the production of lithium-ion batteries and the electric car industry, but the adoption of lithium-ion technology to store renewable power is also seen as a major area of growth. The global lithium-ion battery market size is expected to be $46.21 billion by 2022 (Allied Market Research, 2016). Exploration for new sources of lithium are a matter of importance and historical records of lithium-rich brine upwelling in Cornish mines has been cause for investigation. SW England hosts a diverse assemblage of metals and is one of the most intensely mined regions in Western Europe. There is no historical mining of lithium although lithium-micas are prevalent in the granite. Research into the extraction of lithium from mica has yet to produce an effective processing method. The presence of lithium in geothermal brines in Cornwall has been known since 1864 but recent changes in technology now make such deposits potentially extractable. Lithium brines are inferred to be found in deep aquifers and associated with major NW-SE fault systems. These fault systems are known to display haematisation and are associated with kaolinization and illitization (Pysrillos et al., 2003). Heat-flow may be increased through these structures and be prospective for geothermal energy. Current areas for exploration are guided by historic records of lithium brine in proximity to major fault structures on the flanks of large granite bodies. If successful the project could enhance the prospects of developing a large-scale lithium extraction industry in the UK. Work on the data will commence in the last quarter of 2017 and we are confident of reporting some exciting results in Lisbon.
