A company with plans to exploit lithium from Cornwall's hot springs has received a £1million investment.

Cornish Lithium has announced a group of highly experienced mining and natural resources investors will be putting money into its venture.

The funds raised will enable the company to begin exploration in Cornwall, starting by collating all relevant data on lithium occurrences in Cornwall. The company intends to pull together information on surface and underground lithium in order to prioritise the best locations for subsequent drilling and sampling.

Such exploration is expected to include further geophysical surveys where possible, and once drill sites have been selected the company intends to apply for the necessary permits ahead of drill testing of suitable targets.

Cornish Lithium said it welcomes the money from the new investors due to the wealth of mining, processing, capital raising, project development and operational experience amongst the group. Under the terms of the investment, the incoming shareholders will have the opportunity to appoint one director to the board.

The group includes Keith Liddell, former chief executive of Aquarius Platinum and Mineral Securities, a highly experienced metallurgist and is the inventor of a platinum recovery process; Chris von Christierson, director and principal of Southern Prospecting, who has been actively involved in the establishment of a number of international exploration and mining projects, and Peter Smedvig, an investor with an understanding of the global natural resources sector.

Jeremy Wrathall, chief executive of Cornish Lithium, said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment to commence our exploration programme. We look forward to working with our new shareholders given the wealth of experience they have to offer in the field of natural resources.”

Keith Liddell, added: “Given the extensive historic readings of lithium in geothermal brines as well as the recent advances in technology, we see a real potential for lithium production in Cornwall. Combined with the global shift in focus towards electric vehicles and battery energy storage we believe that Cornish Lithium could potentially become a very significant player in the lithium industry in the UK and Europe. We look forward to working with the team in progressing this exciting project through its exploration and development phases.”