Minister for Industry - Chris McDonald MP - yesterday completed a tour of Cornwall following the launch of the government’s Critical Minerals Strategy over the weekend.
Accompanied by representatives of the Department for Business and Trade and local MPs - Minister McDonald was keen to tour Imerys British Lithium’s pilot plant for lithium carbonate production.
St Austell and Newquay MP Noah Law was joined by the other Cornish Labour MPs - Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth), Anna Gelderd (South East Cornwall) and Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) to underline the importance of the new strategy to the Duchy.
Minister for Industry Chris McDonald said:
“We need critical minerals for everything – from the phones we use to the cars we drive – and for too long we’ve been dependent on a select few sources for our supplies of them, putting our national security at risk.
“Now, we’re taking the bold action needed to shore up our supply chains, ramp up domestic production and back businesses with the investment they need to create new jobs and drive growth, as part of our Plan for Change.”
Mark Hewson, who leads Imerys in the UK said:
“The Critical Minerals Strategy underscores the role Cornwall can play in unlocking growth for the UK. This was reiterated by Minister McDonald and our local Cornwall MPs across our conversations today.
“The resources sector supports hundreds of jobs in Cornwall and projects such as Imerys British Lithium have the potential to underpin this for many years to come. The potential impact on the supply chain and existing businesses cannot be underestimated.
“We look forward to working in partnership with the Government to realise the benefits of the critical minerals strategy.”
Noah Law, MP for St Austell and Newquay, added:
“With the Government setting a 50,000t pa domestic lithium production target as part of the Critical Minerals Strategy launched today, Cornwall takes centre stage in Britain's journey to becoming a clean energy superpower.”
Imerys has been mining and processing kaolin in Cornwall for over 25 years. Supporting 3,500 direct and indirect jobs and spending around £40 million every year in the local Cornish economy.
Imerys’ lithium project - Imerys British Lithium - is projected to produce over 21,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate for electric car batteries - every year, for more than 30 years. The project will be based on Imerys’ existing mining land and infrastructure.