Britain's Abandoned Tin-Tungsten Mine May be Re-mined to Help Build Electric Cars

Cornwall County and its surrounding areas in England have one of the largest tin-tungsten deposits in the world, but since the 1990s, mines that have been mined for centuries have been abandoned due to the collapse of metal prices, making them unable to survive.

However, with the increasing demand for tin, tungsten and other metals that can be used in electric vehicles, electronic products and renewable energy sources, the prices of these rare metal mines have also risen. British officials are supporting re-mining and seeking investment to ensure that UK-related industries can withstand the impact of future small-scale resource crises.

New research shows that waste tin ores also contain rare metals such as tungsten and lithium, the so-called future metals.

A British government official said: "We need to ensure the safe supply of technical metals and key minerals. China has most of the world's rare metals refining market. In the global trade war between China and the United States, it is necessary for us to prepare accordingly. However, in the early stages of mining projects, the UK could not guarantee that they would be able to produce commercially available metals. Because in terms of battery resources, it is impossible to compete with resource-rich countries such as China, Chile and Australia. At present, all countries in the world are striving to seize the highest point of the electric vehicle market, the market action is led by China, China is by far the largest battery metal producer, if we do not take the initiative, any future action will be ignored. "

About 60 companies are exploring the region, with the largest participants being Strongbow Exploration in Canada, New Age Exploration in Australia and Wolf Minerals.

Recently, many tin-tungsten deposits have been discovered in Britain, and its tin-tungsten resource advantage has become the best in European countries. In Devonshire, for example, Wolf Minerals has begun to mine tungsten and tin ores, and tungsten WO₃ production has reached 1000 tons per year. In addition, in March this year, a British company also found tin, tungsten and copper near Plymouth - all suitable for electric vehicles, they have invested about $2.65 million in projects, the project is raising funds.

British officials concluded by saying: "With the boom in new energy vehicles, world demand for rare metals such as tin, tungsten and lithium has exceeded expectations, and the prices of tin, tungsten and lithium have risen more than three to four times compared with 1998. The driving force of industrial upgrading in Britain has become more and more urgent, as Britain is about to withdraw from the EU, the world's largest trading group. Therefore, the government must formulate a future-oriented industrial strategy and seek to establish its own mineral sources for electrification and electric vehicles in order to provide material security, income and employment opportunities."

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