Cornwall Council

The electric car revolution, together with the increasing demand for electronics and renewable energy technologies, has led to a rise in the prices for tin and lithium. It is expected that the demand for lithium will rise two to threefold by 2025, due to its use in electric consumables and for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

The increasing demand for these metals has led to a renewed interest in the deposits in the MIREU partner region Cornwall in the UK. Similar cases can also be found in many other countries around the world, such as Germany, Finland and Sweden, who are all trying to secure their share of the electric vehicle boom.

Cornwall is world-renowned for tin and copper mining and despite the last tin mine closing in the 1990s, the area retains diverse mineral resources and new prospects and remains a centre for related expertise. Within the last year, local government has recognised that mining is a key area to yield potential economic growth of the region and doors are opening to potential funding opportunities for the sector. The timing coincides with the release of the new UK Minerals Strategy and updated National Planning Policy Framework, both of which set objectives to meet the UK demand for minerals sustainably. This climate has led to a mini-rush of interest, with about half a dozen companies currently exploring mineral potential in the area.

Exploratory drilling for tin has begun at Redmoor in east Cornwall – a joint project by UK-based Strategic Minerals and Australian resource company New Age Exploration. Meanwhile, the Canadian company Strongbow Exploration Inc aims to start the production of tin at South Crofty Mine in 2021, which is the largest Cornish project planned so far. According to Richard Williams, CEO of Strongbow Exploration Inc., the production will, if successful, create around 275 direct jobs and four times that number of indirect roles. However, the company must first pump out water that has accumulated in the mines over decades of dereliction.

Lithium is also attracting new companies to Cornwall. According to the UK mining start-up Cornish Lithium Ltd, the county potentially holds the only viable deposits of lithium in the UK.

Cornish Lithium Ltd. is currently researching areas of interest for exploration. The company has combined historical records with the findings of an innovative remote sensing project led by the Satellite Applications Catapult, a non-profit technology and innovation company. The Innovate UK funded research project, headed by the Catapult’s Principal Earth Observation Specialist Dr Cristian Rossi, developed a way to detect and map geological structures that could indicate the location of lithium brines using satellite images of geology, mineralisation and vegetation cover.

Dr Cristian Rossi said: “We are very excited by the findings of this project. We have shown that by combining a range of satellite data and expertise in UK mining, geology and Earth observation, we can accurately map the environmental baseline- and also delineate areas where lithium is more likely to be present at depth.”

This study is the first time satellite technology has been used to search for subterranean lithium in the UK and it has attracted interest, in terms of what it might mean for Cornwall, but also in the potential for the technique to be adapted for use elsewhere.

Image:

The image is a composite ‘prospectivity map’ derived by experts from satellite images.

Sources:

Cole, Laura. “Electric dreams: the return of Cornish mining?”. Geographical. 7 July 2018. Web: http://geographical.co.uk/uk/uk/item/2786-electric-dreams, accessed 10 August 2018.

Lewis, Barbara. “Britain looks to ancient mines for electric future”. Reuters. 27 April 2018. Web: https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-mining-analysis/britain-looks-to-ancient-mines-for-electric-future-idUKKBN1HY0Y4, accessed 10 August 2018.

Matthews, Chris. “South Crofty Mine could return Cornish tin to the world and create a thousand jobs by 2021”. Cornwall Live. 23 January 2018. Web: https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/south-crofty-mine-could-return-1106301, accessed 10 August 2018.

Satellite Applications Catapult, email communications from 15 August 2018. Website of Satellite Applications Catapult: https://sa.catapult.org.uk/

Comments

Communication & Dissemination

Cornwall Council

University of Exeter

Fri, 23/08/2019 - 10:00

Public / Private

Public

Future of EU mining regions collaboration

Hilary Webb — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 14:49:45 +0000

Future of EU mining regions collaboration Hilary Webb Fri, 26/02/2021 - 15:49

The Industrial modernisation S3P Mining industry and the CoMMER (ERRIN Task Force on Raw Materials) invite you to an online roundtable discussion on the future of the EU mining regions collaboration. It will be an opportunity to learn more about the initiatives supporting the networking of mining regions.

The online roundtable will take place on 4th March 2021 from 13:00 - 15:00 CET.

During the session, the S3P Mining Industry and the task force will be introduced as two sides of the same coin having a common objective to develop responsible EU mining. In addition, we will have an introduction to the H2020 project SCRREEN2 - Solutions for Critical Raw materials - a European Expert Network 2.

The meeting will the share aims and current status of these collaborations and to invite you to a brainstorming session exploring the good practices supporting and strengthening the EU mining regions collaboration. A more detailed agenda and instructions will be shared with registered participants from 1st March 2021 onwards.

Please register here before 18:00 CET on 3rd March, the link to join the meeting on Microsoft Teams will be sent on the morning of 4th March.

Agenda

The roundtable will be moderated by Ryan Titley, Director of Projects, ERRIN

13.00 - 13.05	*Opening and introduction*, Ryan Titley, Director of Projects, ERRIN
13.05 - 13.25	*Industrial modernisation S3P Mining industry – Supporting the development of the EU Regional Innovation Hubs of Responsible Mining & Metallurgy Business Solutions*, Ilkka Nykänen, partnership coordinator, Business Joensuu, North-Karelia, Finland and supported by the partners
13.25 - 13.45	*CoMMER, ERRIN Task Force on Raw Materials – supporting the regions in project making, policy shaping, partnering, and profiling,* introduction and background Juha Kaija, Geological Survey of Finland – GTK, MIREU project manager, and commented by the Brussels regional offices’ representatives
13.45 – 14.00	*CoMMER and SCRREEN2 - Synergies for improving the raw materials awareness across the EU regions,* W. Eberhard Falck, Vice-President, International Raw Materials Observatory
14.00 – 14.45	*Open roundtable* – moderated by the Ryan Titley, Director of Projects, ERRIN What are your expectations from the European regional collaboration? How the regions can operationalise their role in the implementation of the responsible mining and metallurgy industries? How to maximise the EU investments to develop sustainable regional and interregional mining ecosystems? How can regional cooperation promote a competitive mining & metallurgy sector and sustainable solutions? How the existing platforms Mining industry S3P and CoMMER can support each other?
14.45 – 15.00	*Conclusions and next steps,* Mika Riipi, County Governor, Lapland, Finland

Find more information below:

Industrial modernisation S3P Mining industry: https://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/mining-industry

CoMMER - the Council of Mining and Metallurgy European Regions, which will operate as an ERRIN task force: https://errin.eu/raw-materials

The MIREU project: https://mireu.eu/

SCRREEN2 https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/958211

Attached you can find the brochures introducing the CoMMER and S3P Mining industry & REMIX Interreg Europe and MIREU H2020 projects.

Thank you for attending, the presentations are available to view and download on this page.

Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash

Comments

Networking Regions

Framework Conditions for Mineral Raw Materials Exploitation

Social License to Operate

Identifying and Promoting Regional Synergies for Economic Growth

R&I Investments & ESIF

Knowledge Management

Communication & Dissemination

Clustering

AGH University of Science and Technology

Exploration and Mining Division

Geological Survey of Finland

Geological Survey of France

Junta de Castilla y León

Košice Self-governing Region

Luleå University of Technology

MinPol

Montanuniversität Leoben

National Technical University of Athens

NOVA University of Lisbon

Region Västerbotten

Regional Council of Lapland

SIEMCALSA

SmartNorth

Styrian Iron Route

Technical University of Kosice

University of Exeter

University of Lapland

W E Falck

Event Date

Thu, 04/03/2021 - 13:00 - Thu, 04/03/2021 - 15:00

Public / Private

public

Document

CoMMER.pdf

REMIX Joint Material with MIREU.pdf

Presentations

210304_Eberhard Falck-INTRAW-SCRREEN2.pdf

210304_Ilkka_Nykänen_Business_Joensuu.pdf

210304_Juha_Kaija_GTK.pdf

210304_Santiago_Cuesta_ICAMCyL.pdf

Mining in Cornwall webinar

Hilary Webb — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 13:24:15 +0000

Mining in Cornwall webinar Hilary Webb Thu, 11/03/2021 - 14:24

The Department for International Trade (DIT), Cornwall Trade and Investment and Cornwall Development company are jointly hosting a meeting on opportunities related to metal extraction in Cornwall, UK.

In the past metals such as tin and copper have been exploited in Cornwall and today there is growing recognition of the potential of other metals including lithium and cobalt, needed for clean growth ambitions.

This webinar will provide information on opportunities to develop these important resources and how the UK government and partners in Cornwall may be able to help your company establish itself in the region.

The workshop will take place on 18 March from 16:00 - 17:15 CET (15:00 - 16:15 GMT).

Learn more and register here.

Comments

Cornwall Council

Event Date

Thu, 18/03/2021 - 16:00 - Thu, 18/03/2021 - 17:15

Public / Private

public