24th Nov 2025 06:05
(Allince News) - The UK government on Saturday published a policy paper outlining a critical minerals strategy which aims to optimise domestic production and build resilient supply networks.
Entitled "Vision 2035: Critical Minerals Strategy," the paper sets a target to source 10% of UK critical mineral demand from domestic production and 20% from recycling by 2035.
The UK currently produces 6% of its critical mineral needs domestically.
The strategy seeks to diversify the UK’s supplier base, with a target that no more than 60% of the supply of any one mineral should come from one single country by 2035.
The government also announced a GBP50 million fund to support domestic businesses and increase the resilience of the supply chain.
The strategy paper recognises that critical minerals are essential to the UK’s economy, national security and clean energy transition but acknowledges that, as a net importer of such minerals, the country faces strategic vulnerabilities.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “For too long, Britain has been dependent on a handful of overseas suppliers, leaving our economy and nation security exposed to global shocks.”
The strategy paper cites lithium, copper, tungsten, nickel and rare earths as being of particular importance to the UK, and sets a goal for the UK to produce at least 50,000 tonnes of lithium by 2035.
Europe's biggest lithium deposits are in Cornwall, which also has deposits of tungsten.
Liam Condon, chief executive of critical minerals recycler and FTSE 250 company Johnson Matthey PLC, welcomed the strategy and said the UK “will go further, faster, by recognising the economic importance of processing and recycling”.
“We also welcome the government’s recognition of platinum group metals (PGMs) as both critical and growth minerals,” said Condon. “They are vital for the UK industrial sector and are foundational for the government’s industrial strategy.”
The UK is a leader in the recycling of PGMs, and almost 60% of PGMs going into new products globally are sourced from recycling.
Condon said he was disappointed that the strategy excluded a key PGM, palladium, which has broad applications from pharmaceuticals to electronics, as well as in controlling automotive emissions.
Johnson Matthey is constructing a new PGM refinery in Royston, England which is expected to open in 2027.
By Lachlan Colquhoun, Alliance News senior reporter Asia-Pacific
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