We can now announce an historic agreement with Cornish Lithium to explore for and develop lithium in hot spring brines. Tregothnan's china clay, tin and copper mining history can be traced back through many centuries so we are delighted to return to our heritage to mine for this crucially important material of the future.
Lithium is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. It is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element. Late in the 20th century lithium became an important component of batteries because of its high electrode potential. Most mobile phones, digital cameras and mobile power supplies use lithium batteries. We will see huge growth in the demand for lithium with electric cars and solar power supply becoming an increasingly important part of 21st century life.
During the exploration process for lithium, Cornish Lithium will also have the rights to commercially develop other minerals discovered at the same time.
CEO of Cornish Lithium, Jeremy Wrathall, said: "We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Tregothnan further strengthening our relationship with the team.
"Whilst our current focus remains on lithium, this agreement means that if we discover other minerals, these too can be commercially developed across Tregothnan Estates' land and mineral rights which have historically been proven to contain significant mineral deposits.
Tregothnan's Estate Director, Andrew Jarvis, said: "This is a historic deal, the likes of which we have never entered before. We are delighted to be supporting Cornish Lithium in their quest to bring Lithium production to the UK. Equally exciting is the prospect of finding other minerals and metals, which may well be discovered during the exploration process.