A planned lithium hydroxide factory at Teesside Freeport that would supply UK gigafactories could source the vital element it needs from nearby mines in County Durham.
Tees Valley Lithium - which hopes to bring a multimillion-pound processing plant to the Wilton International site - has signed a memorandum of understanding with Weardale Lithium Ltd, which owns the exclusive access to two boreholes in the county, where high lithium levels have been detected. The firm plans to extract lithium from geothermal waters found beneath the Eastgate Quarry site.
Under the agreement, both companies are investigating ways to supply this "green" form of lithium into the planned Teesside plant, which aims to supply about 15% of the chemicals needed for the growing production of electric vehicles in the UK and across the EU by 2030. Last month, the UK's first ever Critical Minerals Strategy was published by the Government, identifying lithium and pointing to a 400% year-on-year price rise caused by rapid growth in global demand.
