Critical mineral supply chains
This collection sets out how the government is securing supplies of the critical minerals for UK industry and energy security, now and in the future.
Through Resilience for the Future: the UK’s critical minerals strategy, the UK will:
- accelerate growth of the UK’s domestic capabilities
- collaborate with international partners
- enhance international markets to make them more responsive, transparent and responsible
Since publishing the strategy in July 2022, we have been engaging with industry and international partners to deliver on the stated ambitions.
Reflecting the government’s Integrated Review Refresh (IR2023) priorities, the ‘Critical Minerals Refresh: delivering resilience in a changing global environment’, published in March 2023, set out to refresh how we are delivering the strategy for UK businesses. This is in light of a changing global landscape and the sharpening of geopolitical competition. It reinforces our commitment to the critical minerals strategy, highlights our progress and sets out upcoming delivery milestones.
Government established an independent Task and Finish Group on Critical Minerals Resilience for UK Industry in April 2023. Their objectives were to:
- investigate the critical mineral dependencies and vulnerabilities across UK industry sectors
- support UK industry to promote resilience and diversity in its supply chain
- design a framework for monitoring and mitigating critical mineral supply risk across UK industry sectors
The group delivered their report on industry resilience for critical minerals in December 2023 and government responded in March 2024.
The Critical Minerals Expert Committee played an important role in advising government on its critical minerals strategy and continues to act as a valuable resource for expertise on emerging issues.
The Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade and led by the British Geological Survey (BGS), continues to play an important role of monitoring the supply, demand and market dynamics of critical minerals and providing evidence to policymakers. The BGS carried out a criticality assessment in 2022 which defined the current UK critical minerals list. Using a revised methodology (PDF, 4.73MB), BGS is currently carrying out a new criticality assessment for the UK.