UK launches critical minerals strategy

Government plans to diversify supply chains and boost domestic production, refining, recovery and recycling of metals key to the energy transition

The UK government has today published its strategy for critical minerals, which are key to economic growth and the energy transition but face major risks to security of supply. The energy transition is driving substantial demand for critical minerals. The government notes that a number of clean energy technologies, including electric vehicle (EV) batteries, “are stretching the limits of technical performance in the short term, so rely on a technical optimum combination of materials”. This prevents the substitution of materials without potentially slowing the rate of transition. Global demand for EV battery minerals—including lithium, graphite, cobalt and nickel—is projected to increase 6-13