A lithium mine in Cornwall is set to support more than 100 jobs, following a £43 million investment pledge from Geothermal Engineering Limited (GEL), which is backed by nearly £10 million from the government’s automotive transformation fund.
This investment in lithium (and more broadly, lithium-ion battery production) follows £1bn secured for UK automotive this month alone.
The investment from GEL will create and support more than 100 jobs after receiving an Offer in Principle worth nearly £10 million, through the Government’s DRIVE35 Automotive Transformation Fund.
The United Downs site, near Redruth, began operations in Feb 2026 and is producing geothermal electricity and lithium carbonate (around 100 tonnes per year) side by side.
UK Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said: “Hot on the heels of over £1bn of automotive investment secured already this month, this latest win is a big step towards building our industrial resilience.”
The demand for lithium, growing mostly due to battery demand increase for EVs, is expected to increase by 1,100% by 2035. The investment is expected to help the facility produce around 1,500 tonnes a year by 2029.
Cornwall is becoming a hub for lithium extraction, with two major projects in the pipeline. GEL’s project is scaling a geothermal lithium extraction operation with funding from the government, using lithium from geothermal water, whilst Trelavour (discussed in parliament in May) is currently in pre-planning stage and will use lithium from rock.
Evidence given to Parliament in May said Cornish Lithium’s planned 10,000 tonnes per year from Trelavour could represent around 20% of the UK’s 2035 lithium production target, with construction currently expected to begin in 2028.
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