The UK Government aims to improve critical mineral supply security with their first-ever critical minerals strategy as we move away from fossil fuels.

Critical minerals are, as they suggest, critical to our modern society. They are all around us in our phones, computers, cars, and renewable technology and so is a part of modern life. Although they are so close to us, they are often sourced and mined in other parts of the world with a level of supply risk.

Rare minerals such as lithium, silicon, cobalt and graphite are just some of the components required to manufacture batteries and electronics. They are also in high demand as technology exponentially evolves and as we move away from fossil fuels to carbon-neutral solutions that require new technology. The IEA has calculated that by 2040, critical minerals will be 4x more in demand due to clean energy solutions.

As the UK will become increasingly reliant on critical minerals, and vulnerable to market, geopolitical and logistical disruptions, the Government recognises the need for a strategy to become more resilient and diverse to support our infrastructure.

Through this strategy, the UK will:

Accelerate the UK’s domestic capabilities

• Increasing UK domestic production, where viable for businesses and accepted by the communities and environment
• Rebuilding UK skills in mining and minerals
• Research and development in critical mineral supply chains
• Increasing recover, reuse and recycle rates to improve the efficiency of limited resources

Collaborate with international partners

• Diversify import supply to increase resilience as demand grows
• Support UK businesses to participate overseas in supply chains
• Develop key diplomatic, trading and development relationships to increase resilience

Enhance international markets

• Reduce disruptions by increasing global Environmental, Social and Governance performance
• Increase transparency through improved data and traceability for the market
• Champion London as the capital for the world’s responsible finance for critical minerals

More on critical minerals:

Electric Vehicle Sales Continue to Boom but can Mineral Supplies keep up?

Minerals are an Essential Component to the Clean Energy Transition

More on Resilience for the future: The UK’s critical minerals strategy