MINEX Forum

Tag: industrial strategy

  • UK Unveils Critical Minerals Strategy to Curb Import Dependence and Boost Domestic Lithium Production

    UK Unveils Critical Minerals Strategy to Curb Import Dependence and Boost Domestic Lithium Production

    The UK government has launched a new Critical Minerals Strategy aimed at sharply reducing the country’s dependence on foreign supplies of vital materials used in everything from smartphones and fridges to electric vehicles and wind turbines.

    Announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on 22 November, the strategy sets a target for Britain to meet 10% of its critical mineral needs from domestic production and 20% from recycling by 2035. It also includes an ambition to produce at least 50,000 tonnes of lithium in the UK by that date — more than the weight of the Titanic.

    Backed by up to £50 million in new funding, the plan is designed to diversify supply chains and limit the UK’s exposure to geopolitical shocks, such as war or natural disasters. It responds to growing concern that China’s dominance in the sector — controlling about 70% of rare earth mining and 90% of refining — leaves Britain vulnerable as demand for clean energy and advanced technologies surges.

    Domestic demand is projected to rise sharply, with copper use expected to almost double and lithium demand forecast to increase by 1,100% by 2035. To counter this, the UK has set a goal that no more than 60% of its supply of any single critical mineral will come from one country by 2035.

    The government plans to capitalise on existing strengths across the UK, including Europe’s largest lithium deposit in Cornwall, significant tungsten resources, the Clydach nickel refinery in Swansea, and the only Western source of rare earth alloys used in high-performance magnets for wind turbines and F-35 fighter jets. More than 50 critical mineral projects are already based in the UK, and the sector currently contributes £1.79 billion to the economy and directly supports over 50,000 jobs.

    Prime Minister Starmer framed the strategy as central to both economic resilience and national security. “For too long, Britain has been dependent on a handful of overseas suppliers, leaving our economy and national security exposed to global shocks,” he said, adding that the government would “boost domestic production, ramp up recycling, and back British businesses with the investment they need to compete on the international stage.”

    Industry Minister Chris McDonald said the government was “taking the bold action needed to shore up our supply chains” and support new jobs and growth as part of its wider Plan for Change.

    Delivery of the strategy will be supported by up to £50 million in funding to help UK companies scale up extraction, processing, and recycling projects, alongside wider public finance tools such as the National Wealth Fund and UK Export Finance. In September, the National Wealth Fund committed £31 million to Cornish Lithium to advance the Trelavour Lithium Project and the Cross Lanes Geothermal Lithium Project.

    The government will also seek to cut industrial electricity costs through the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) and streamline permitting for innovative production and recycling projects via the Environment Agency’s priority tracked service. Skills development will be supported through collaboration with Skills England and the Department for Work and Pensions to build a workforce capable of delivering the strategy’s goals.

    The plan is closely tied to the UK’s modern Industrial Strategy, with critical minerals identified as a foundational sector underpinning advanced manufacturing, clean energy, defence, and high-tech innovation. Key regions such as the North East of England, Devon and Cornwall, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are expected to benefit from new investment and jobs, leveraging local geology, industrial capacity and research expertise.

    Industry reactions have broadly welcomed the move. Cornish Lithium CEO Jamie Airnes said the framework would help “accelerate domestic capability, unlock investment, and build strategic partnerships” to deliver lithium at scale. The Critical Minerals Association described the strategy as a “timely step forward” that can secure the UK’s position as a trusted global partner if implemented with intent, while industry figures from Vale Base Metals, Ionic Rare Earths and Hypromag highlighted the UK’s strengths in midstream processing, magnet recycling and rare earth technologies.

    To further bolster resilience, the UK will examine stockpiling options, including through defence procurement, and continue to work with allies via initiatives such as NATO’s Critical Mineral Stockpiling Project. The government also plans to deepen partnerships with resource-rich and like-minded countries, using Britain’s academic, R&D and financial capabilities to expand opportunities for UK businesses at home and abroad.

  • Pensana Scraps £250m Rare Earth Refinery in Hull, Shifts Operations to the US

    Pensana Scraps £250m Rare Earth Refinery in Hull, Shifts Operations to the US

    Britain’s ambitions to become a critical minerals powerhouse have suffered a major setback after Pensana Plc abandoned its £250 million rare earth refinery project near Hull, opting instead to relocate operations to the United States, Sky News reported.

    The proposed refinery at Saltend Chemicals Park was intended to process rare earth elements for use in electric vehicle motors and wind turbine magnets, creating 126 jobs and serving as the centerpiece of the UK’s 2022 Critical Minerals Strategy. The project had been promised millions in government funding — funding that was never disbursed as construction failed to begin.

    Pensana’s chairman, Paul Atherley, said the move was driven by the Trump administration’s decision to guarantee purchases of rare earths from the US Mountain Pass mine at fixed prices — a level of state support he said Europe and the UK have failed to match.

    “That’s repriced the market — and Washington is looking to do more of these deals, moving at an absolute rate of knots,” Atherley said. “Europe and the UK have been talking about critical minerals for ages. But when the Americans do it, they go big and hard, and make it happen. We don’t; we mostly just talk about it.”

    The decision comes amid heightened geopolitical tensions and growing global competition for rare earth supply chains, as China — which produces about 90% of the world’s refined rare earth metals — tightens export restrictions. The announcement follows Beijing’s latest export curbs, which prompted President Donald Trump to threaten 100% tariffs on Chinese goods.

    The Hull refinery was once touted as a flagship project for the UK’s green industrial transition. During the project’s 2022 groundbreaking, then–Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng described it as “the only facility of its kind in Europe,” promising it would “secure Britain’s supply resilience.”

    However, Atherley said rare earth processing remains too complex, energy-intensive, and costly to be commercially viable in the UK, citing record-high industrial energy prices as a key obstacle.

    Pensana continues to pursue lithium refining plans in Teesside through its related venture Tees Valley Lithium, which Atherley described as more feasible given current economics.

    The move deals another blow to Britain’s chemicals and materials sector, already struggling with high energy costs and recent shutdowns, including the closure of Vivergo, a biofuels refinery located in the same industrial park.

    A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson called the decision “disappointing” but acknowledged it was a commercial matter for Pensana.

    “We will publish a new Critical Minerals Strategy soon to help secure our supply chains for the long term, and we’re reducing industrial electricity costs as part of our modern Industrial Strategy,” the department said.

  • Kazakhstan Eyes Industrial Revolution Through Waste Mineral Reprocessing

    Kazakhstan Eyes Industrial Revolution Through Waste Mineral Reprocessing

    Kazakhstan is sitting on more than 55 billion tonnes of technogenic mineral formations (TMFs) — the result of decades of intensive mining and mineral processing. But while this massive reserve of industrial waste is growing by 300–700 million tonnes annually, only 11% is currently being recycled, far behind the 70–80% reprocessing rate in developed countries.

    TMFs — tailings, slags, ashes, and waste rock — often contain valuable residual metals such as copper, zinc, and rare earth elements. As traditional ore reserves diminish, these “wastes” present a significant opportunity to recover critical resources and reduce environmental harm.

    President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has highlighted the importance of moving from accumulation to utilization of TMFs. Reprocessing could not only ease ecological pressure, but also fuel industrialization, support single-industry towns, create jobs, and help diversify the national economy.

    Experts warn, however, that current legislation lacks clarity. TMFs are simultaneously classified as both waste and subsoil resources, meaning they are taxed like raw mineral output but lack a clear legal framework for extraction and reuse. Calls are growing for reforms to reclassify certain TMFs as secondary resources under Kazakhstan’s Environmental Code.

    The Ministry of Industry and Construction has begun an inventory of TMFs and is working on a roadmap to support rare and rare earth metal sectors. Officials are considering simplified licenses for TMF processing and legal changes to allow removal of TMFs from residential areas.

    At the same time, industrial players are already investing in practical solutions. Qarmet is advancing 10 reprocessing projects worth over $137 million, while ERG Recycling processes over 1 million tonnes of TMFs annually, developing new materials for construction and metallurgy.

    Experts emphasize that unlocking the full potential of TMFs requires tax incentives, green investment, and robust science-business-government coordination. Kazakhstan’s new Tax Code includes a reduced mineral extraction tax rate (0.1 coefficient) for materials recovered from TMFs, signaling progress.

    Ultimately, stakeholders agree that TMF reprocessing must become core industrial policy. “It’s not just a technological issue — it’s a matter of national importance,” said Gulnara Bizhanova of Atameken. With soaring global demand for metals and a drive toward green energy, Kazakhstan could evolve from a raw material exporter into a producer of high-tech, value-added goods.

  • EU Opens Industry Consultation on Critical Raw Materials Cooperation Amid Supply Chain Pressures

    EU Opens Industry Consultation on Critical Raw Materials Cooperation Amid Supply Chain Pressures

    As the European Union works to shore up the security and sustainability of its raw material supply chains, European Commission Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera has launched a public consultation aimed at promoting cooperation among industry players under EU competition rules.

    The move reflects Ribera’s dual mandate as Commissioner for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition: guiding the bloc’s competition policy through 2029 while co-leading the Clean Industrial Deal, a pillar of the EU’s green and industrial transformation. According to her 2024 Mission Letter, Ribera must “modernise the EU’s competition policy” to enable innovation, resilience, and sustainability in an era marked by geopolitical tensions and unfair subsidy-driven competition.

    Announcing the consultation, Ribera invited stakeholders in extraction, processing, and recycling to identify barriers and opportunities for collaboration across the raw materials value chain. “Together, we can build sustainable supply chains and transform challenges into opportunities for prosperity, innovation and resilience,” she stated.

    The consultation comes as companies struggle to navigate legal uncertainty around cooperation. While the EU’s 2023 Horizontal Guidelines offer some room for sustainability agreements, they caution that even modest cooperation—such as setting a joint purchase price for recyclable phones—can breach antitrust rules. Meanwhile, the 2022 Vertical Guidelines do little to clarify how sustainability considerations might enable cooperation further down the supply chain.

    The legal ambiguity stands in contrast to growing EU policy imperatives. The Draghi Report on European Competitiveness (2024) urges the Commission to ease legal pathways for joint procurement and collaborative production efforts in critical raw materials. Likewise, the Commission’s Clean Industrial Deal communication commits to providing companies with tailored antitrust guidance aligned with EU economic and security priorities.

    While the EU’s 2024 Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) already outlines strategic public-sector projects to diversify sourcing, the CRMA stops short of addressing the private sector’s role in joint action. In March 2025, the Commission selected 25 Strategic Projects across 14 critical materials—including lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, and tungsten—but implementation rests largely with national governments and non-EU partners.

    Ribera’s new consultation, therefore, fills a key policy gap. The Commission is expected to initially focus on the 14 raw materials prioritized under the CRMA, particularly those essential to sectors like renewables, digital, aerospace and defence. Based on the feedback, the Commission will consider whether to issue new competition guidance—possibly by 2026—clarifying when and how companies may work together to strengthen critical supply chains without violating EU antitrust law.