Global demand for the chemical element lithium is rising thanks to its critical role in the electric vehicle build process, and former investment banker Stewart Dickson is leading a bid to exploit North East supplies.
As an experienced consultant and investor in natural resources projects around the world including gold and gas businesses in Russia, Mr Dickson has turned his attention to east of the Pennines where his company aims to take lithium from geothermal waters that can be accessed from the former Eastgate Cement Works site, near Stanhope. Spurred by massive demand for lithium-ion batteries - which can store more power than other types - Weardale Lithium Ltd wants to repurpose two boreholes that were originally part of a geothermal energy project spearheaded by Newcastle University and One North East.
Mr Dickson told Business Live: "They were on the right lines: they proved elevated temperatures, they proved elevated flow rates and they published elevated lithium levels. For whatever reason, that project never developed but we were able to pick up where they left off. We've secured exclusive access to those boreholes and surrounding land."
