Weardale Lithium has been awarded £500,000 from Business Durham's Eastgate Regeneration and Infrastructure Catalyst Fund to support preparatory works at the former cement works in Eastgate, Weardale, where it plans to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate.
The funding is earmarked for schemes that help redevelop the Eastgate site, which closed more than 20 years ago. Last year, Weardale Lithium received planning permission to bring the site back into use with a facility that will extract lithium from geothermal groundwaters.
Jobs and production targets
The facility is expected to produce at least 12,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate per annum and create around 175 jobs in the Eastgate area, with about 125 jobs when the plant is at full scale.
Coun Kyle Genner, Durham County Council's Cabinet member for neighbourhoods, environment and police relations, said: "In January this year we put an important line in the sand by becoming the first county council in the country to declare its commitment to local reindustrialisation. We see that as being key to unlocking the future prosperity of, and opportunity for, County Durham and our people, and so it is a commitment we take incredibly seriously."
Funding for brownfield regeneration
Genner added: "The Eastgate Regeneration and Infrastructure Catalyst Fund has been earmarked for the former cement works for almost two decades, so it is great to see it finally being used to bring this site back to economic life. This new facility will not only give this disused site new purpose, but create secure, local job opportunities for the people of Weardale and the wider county."
Weardale Lithium has already successfully extracted lithium from groundwaters in the North Pennine Orefield. The company plans to process geothermal groundwater from existing deep, high specification, production wells nearby.
Supply chain ambitions
Stewart Dickson, CEO of Weardale Lithium, said: "This funding is an important step forward in our plans to establish commercial lithium production at Eastgate, and we are grateful to Durham County Council and its Business Durham service for their continued support and commitment to the project."
Dickson added: "The redevelopment of this brownfield site represents a significant opportunity to bring new industrial activity and skilled employment to Weardale, while contributing to the UK's ambition to develop a secure domestic supply of critical minerals."
The company aims to establish lithium production in County Durham as part of the region's existing automotive and battery manufacturing supply chain, with the investment supporting preparatory work for the new industry.
