Pilot Scale Production of Lithium from UK Granites; transitioning to an electric vehicle future post Covid-19

如果实施，我们的项目将创造欧洲唯一的国内锂供应，使英国处于锂电池和零排放汽车一体化制造的前沿，支持英国汽车行业从2019冠状病毒病大流行造成的巨大损失中复苏。在截至2020年6月30日的六个月里，英国柴油车销量下降了64.9%，汽油车销量下降了52.3%，而电动车销量增长了158.6%; 6月份销量最大的汽车是进口特斯拉Model 3，第二大是进口iPace。2019年，汽车已经是英国最大的进口价值。汽车制造商与电池制造商合作。目前英国只有一个Gigafactory（大型锂离子电池厂），而欧洲有许多正在建设中。将整个英国汽车行业从内燃机转变为电动汽车将需要七个Gigafactory（_法拉第2020研究_）。在英国设计的第一款电动汽车（捷豹的I-Pace）是在奥地利制造的。即使是标志性的Mini-Electric也使用中国制造的驱动系统和电池。45%的受访者表示，新冠肺炎疫情期间交通流量减少导致空气污染大幅改善，这使他们考虑购买电动汽车，62%的人希望在英国从疫情中恢复过来后，采取更多措施加快电动汽车的普及。包括英国在内的欧洲各国政府已经要求从碳氢化合物转向电动汽车。锂离子电池对于这一转变至关重要，但欧洲还没有生产电池级锂。BLL在康沃尔郡拥有大量的1.12亿吨锂云母花岗岩存款，但锂从未从云母中商业提取。以前，主要是关于加工花岗岩的学术工作，提出了泡沫浮选和硫酸浸出，这将产生数百万吨受污染的残渣。BLL开发了专有技术，可以在不使用化学品的情况下从花岗岩中分离云母并从云母中提取锂，并在实验室规模上生产电池级锂。我们的技术可能提供世界上任何锂生产商最低的环境足迹。该项目将证明在2021年在英国建造和运营一个试验工厂的技术可行性，以证明我们的技术，证明其环境适应性，提供最终产品的样品供我们的拟议客户测试，并吸引商业开发资金。我们为潜在的英国电池和电动汽车制造商提供了相对于欧洲的竞争优势，拥有英国唯一成熟的锂资源，并有可能成为欧洲第一家电池质量的锂化学品生产商。

If implemented, our Project would create Europe's only domestic supply of lithium, placing the UK at the forefront of the integrated manufacture of lithium batteries and zero-emission vehicles, supporting the green-led recovery of the UK's automotive sector from the dramatic losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the six months to 30 June 2020, UK diesel car sales fell 64.9%, petrol sales fell by 52.3%, whereas EV sales increased by 158.6%; June's largest selling car was the imported Tesla Model 3 and the second largest, the imported iPace. In 2019, cars were _already_ the UK's largest import by value. Carmakers co-locate with battery makers. Just one Gigafactory (large lithium-ion battery plant) is currently proposed in the UK, whereas many are under construction in Europe. To transform the whole UK car industry from internal combustion to EVs would require seven Gigafactories (_Faraday 2020 study_). The first EV designed in the UK (Jaguar's I-Pace) is made in Austria. Even the iconic Mini-Electric uses drive trains and batteries made in China. 45% of people surveyed by Venson said radical improvements in air pollution from reduced traffic during Covid-19 has made them consider purchasing an EV, and 62% want more done to expedite take-up of EVs, once the UK has recovered from the pandemic. European governments, including the UK's, have mandated the switch from hydrocarbons to electric mobility. Lithium-ion batteries are essential for this transition, yet no battery-grade lithium is produced in Europe. BLL has a substantial 112 Mt lithium-mica-granite deposit in Cornwall, but lithium has never been commercially extracted from mica. Previous, mostly academic work on processing granites, has proposed froth flotation and sulphuric acid leaching which would produce millions of tonnes of contaminated residues. BLL has developed proprietary technology for separating mica from the granite without using chemicals and extracting lithium from that mica, and have produced battery-grade lithium at laboratory scale. Our technology potentially offers the lowest environmental footprint of any world lithium producer. This Project will prove the technical feasibility of building and operating a pilot plant in the UK in 2021 to prove our technology, to prove its environmental suitability, to provide samples of the final product for tests by our proposed customer and to attract commercial development funding. We offer potential UK battery and EV makers a competitive advantage over Europe, with UK's only established lithium Resource and the potential to be Europe's first, battery-quality lithium chemical producer.