Northern Lithium Feasibility Study at Ludwell Farm, Weardale, Co. Durham

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Northern Lithium (NLi) wants to prove the economic case to invest more than £120m over the next 5-8 years to establish large-scale lithium extraction from brines, processing and supply in the North East of England. We plan to deploy modern and innovative techniques in Weardale, Co. Durham to unlock a sustainable domestic supply of battery-grade lithium for Gigafactories in the region and across the UK. This investment is crucial to building a UK electric vehicle (EV) supply chain, with the UK's lithium demand expected to increase to 75,000 tonnes per year by 2035\.NLi has already secured mineral rights within a 185 sq km area of Weardale, key land access rights, external investment to fund the pre-feasibility work and the necessary planning and Environment Agency (EA) permits for the feasibility drilling programme. Our economic feasibility study will analyse and determine lithium content, concentration and flow rates by drilling a 700m exploration borehole into the Weardale granite and extracting hot saline brines. This analysis will enable NLi to compile a decision-ready business case on whether to establish large scale lithium manufacturing. Grant funding from UKRI and APC is pivotal to proceeding with the study.If this feasibility study justifies the economic case for investment, NLi is ready to develop 10 production sites, each comprising one extraction and one re-injection borehole. We will install a pilot processing plant to extract lithium from the brines and produce battery grade lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) at the first site to prove the technology in situ before rolling out to other sites. Initial production could start within 2-3 years. From 2026, NLi aims to supply around 10,000 tonnes LCE p.a. to the UK EV battery manufacturers -- 13% of the total UK demand expected by 2035\.The majority of lithium produced today comes from China, South America and Australia. As a critical mineral, this carries security of supply risks, alongside logistical and environmental costs. NLi will provide a more sustainable and environmentally responsible source of lithium -- our extraction process is designed to be as closed loop as possible by re-injecting lithium depleted fluids into the granite.Following the feasibility study, NLi can advance discussions with potential commercial partners developing the North East's EV battery supply chain capabilities. NLi has strong support from local, regional and national stakeholders, and has been selected as a Development Project by the North East LEP.