Weardale Lithium has appointed former Conservative Party defence secretary, Sir Michael Fallon, as a senior adviser.
Sir Michael served in the Government for more than 30 years, during which time he was also minister of state for business and energy.
He has also held senior advisory and chairmanship roles across infrastructure, advanced technologies, energy and investment sectors.
His positions include chairman of Aberdeen Investcorp Infrastructure Partners, chairman of aerospace & defence fund at BlueFive Capital, and adviser to Nova Innovation Ltd.
Sir Michael was previously member of Parliament for Darlington during the 1980s and early 1990s.
He resigned as defence secretary in 2017, stating that his previous behaviour, concerning sexual harassment towards women, had “fallen short” of the standards expected by the UK Armed Forces.
Weardale, which is located in Eastgate, County Durham, is progressing plans to extract lithium from geothermal brines to produce battery grade lithium carbonate.
The company has received planning approval for a “two-phase development for a commercial lithium extraction facility”.