The Government has unveiled a sweeping new Critical Minerals Strategy designed to end the UK’s overreliance on foreign suppliers of vital materials used in smartphones, electric vehicles, wind turbines and household electronics.
The plan aims to produce 10% of the UK’s critical mineral needs domestically and recover 20% through recycling by 2035, backed by up to £50 million in new funding and deeper alignment with the Government’s national security and industrial goals.
Announcing the strategy, ministers said the UK must secure reliable supplies of minerals such as lithium, copper, nickel, rare earths and tungsten—materials essential to everything from EV batteries and defence equipment to data centres and renewable power infrastructure. Demand for lithium alone is forecast to rise 1,100% by 2035, while copper demand is expected to nearly double.
To meet this challenge, the strategy sets the ambition to produce at least 50,000 tonnes of lithium by 2035 — more than the weight of the Titanic — drawing on the UK’s unique geological strengths. These include Europe’s largest lithium deposit in Cornwall, major tungsten reserves, one of the world’s largest nickel refineries in Swansea, and the only Western producer of rare earth alloys essential for high-performance magnets.
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