UK announces critical minerals strategy to cut import reliance

The UK Government has announced a caller captious minerals strategy aimed astatine reducing the country’s reliance connected imported minerals.

Unveiled by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the program targets gathering astatine slightest 10% of mineral request done home accumulation and 20% via recycling by 2035.

Additionally, the strategy aims to headdress import exposure, ensuring that nary much than 60% of immoderate azygous captious mineral is sourced from 1 country.

The strategy is backed by up to £50m successful backing to boost captious minerals projects.

China holds a ascendant presumption successful captious mineral proviso chains, accounting for astir 70% of uncommon world mining and astir 90% of refining.

This dominance means the UK depends heavy connected a tiny fig of overseas sources for materials indispensable to technologies specified arsenic electrical vehicles and upwind turbines.

Lithium is simply a cardinal focus, with a home accumulation people of astatine slightest 50,000 tonnes wrong the adjacent decade.

Lithium is prioritised arsenic request successful the UK is projected to summation by 1,100% by 2035, portion copper request is expected to astir double.

Starmer said: “Critical minerals are the backbone of modern beingness and our nationalist information – powering everything from smartphones and combatant jets to electrical vehicles and upwind turbines.

“For excessively long, Britain has been babelike connected a fistful of overseas suppliers, leaving our system and nationalist information exposed to planetary shocks.

“That is wherefore we are taking decisive enactment to alteration that, boosting home production, ramping up recycling, and backing British businesses with the concern they request to vie connected the planetary signifier and thrust down the outgo of surviving for radical astatine home.”

The authorities has already invested much than £165m successful UK captious minerals companies.

Combined with backing from the National Wealth Fund, UK Export Finance and different nationalist concern sources, this caller money volition accelerate assemblage maturation nationwide and fortify the UK’s presumption successful securing captious mineral supplies globally.

Industry Minister Chris McDonald said: “We request captious minerals for everything – from the phones we usage to the cars we thrust – and for excessively agelong we person been babelike connected a prime fewer sources for our supplies of them, putting our nationalist information astatine risk.

“Now, we are taking the bold enactment needed to enactment up our proviso chains, ramp up home accumulation and backmost businesses with the concern they request to make caller jobs and thrust growth, arsenic portion of our Plan for Change.”

Beyond home production, the UK volition research stockpiling options, perchance via defence procurement, and by continuing its information successful Nato's Critical Mineral Stockpiling project.