Cornish Lithium has announced the appointments of Adam Howard and John Raymond to its board as non-executive directors.

The appointments come after the Penryn-based company announced it had received £53.6m initial investment from a group of institutional investors led by the UK Infrastructure Bank, alongside The Energy & Minerals Group and TechMet.

The company, which has undertaken a number of projects to demonstrate the commercial capability of lithium production in Cornwall, said the investment will support the development of the UK's critical minerals supply chain and will accelerate growth towards commercial production of lithium.

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Mr Howard and Mr Raymond will join the board of directors as representatives of the UK Infrastructure Bank and The Energy and Minerals Group respectively.

Cornish Lithium also announced Derek Linfield will step down from the board with effect from Thursday (November 30). Mr Linfield was involved in developing the Company from its inception in August 2016 and was instrumental in negotiating and structuring Cornish Lithium’s mineral rights portfolio. He also played a major role in arranging the Company’s initial funding and crowd funding rounds.

Ian Cockerill, chairman of Cornish Lithium said: “Firstly, I would like to thank Derek Linfield for his work initially as Chairman and latterly as a Non-Executive Director on the Cornish Lithium Board. Derek was instrumental in the early years of Cornish Lithium working with Jeremy Wrathall to structure the key mineral rights agreements that have proved key to the Company’s success over the last seven years. I look forward to continued engagement with Derek as a significant shareholder of the Company.

“I am pleased to welcome Adam Howard and John Raymond to our Board as representatives of our new shareholders following the landmark investment package secured by Cornish Lithium in August. The Board will benefit from their significant experience of both the minerals sector and capital markets, and I look forward to working with them as we develop our exciting portfolio of projects to create value for our stakeholders.”