UK launches critical minerals strategy to reduce dependency on China | UK news
Keir Starmer has announced a critical minerals and rare earths strategy to build resilience against China, which has clamped down on supplies of materials including magnets critical for everything from car doors to refrigerators.
“For too long the UK has been dependent on a handful of overseas suppliers, leaving our economy and national security vulnerable to global shocks,” the Prime Minister said.
The critical minerals initiative comes with £50m funding to boost production at tungsten and lithium mines in Cornwall. Europe’s largest lithium deposits are located in Cornwall, and the EU singled out the country’s tungsten mine for potential financial support this summer.
The strategy follows a six-week dispute between China and the EU over the supply of chips used in the auto industry and underlines how Beijing is willing to use trade in critical materials for political purposes.
The UK and US are currently struggling to reduce their dependence on China, but production of rare earths and critical minerals could take years and require hundreds of millions of pounds of investment.
Lithium resources are available throughout Europe, but the raw material must be converted into lithium hydroxide, a crystal-like compound used to create charge in car batteries.
Europe’s only lithium hydroxide refinery in Germany took five years and £150 million to build, demonstrating the magnitude of funding needed.
Last week the EU’s industrial commissioner, Stéphane Séjourné, acknowledged that the bloc was far behind the United States, saying the United States had “a business department that purchases stocks of critical materials” before anyone else. “They often buy them from under our noses,” he said.
Earlier this year, the UK signed a mining cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia aimed at strengthening supply chains, opening doors to British firms and attracting new investment to the UK. Rare earth minerals are vital for smartphones and electric vehicles, and are increasingly important for building data centers that power artificial intelligence.
According to the statement, the UK’s strategy aims to ensure that no more than 60% of any critical mineral comes from a single partner country by 2035.
Starmer described critical minerals as “the backbone of modern life and our national security” and argued that increasing domestic production and recycling would help protect the economy and support efforts to reduce the cost of living.
The government has said the UK currently produces 6% of its critical mineral needs domestically. According to the plan, the company wants to expand domestic extraction and processing, focusing particularly on lithium, nickel, tungsten and rare earths. It aims to produce at least 50,000 tonnes of lithium in the UK by 2035.
