Highlights
- UK announces Critical Minerals Strategy with £50M funding.
- Goal to produce 10% domestic minerals and 20% from recycling by 2035.
- Target of 50,000 tonnes of lithium production.
- Funding primarily covers engineering studies for modern facilities.
- Britain has assets like Cornish lithium, Clydach nickel refinery, and Europe's only rare earth alloy line.
- China controls a significant portion of the industry: 70% of mining, 90% of refining, and over 95% of magnet production.
- The strategy is directionally correct but lacks costed timelines for critical midstream infrastructure.
- Refineries, separation capacity, and magnet manufacturing require billions in investment, beyond incremental grants.
The UK Government’s new Critical Minerals Strategy lands with theatrical ambition: produce 10% of domestic minerals and 20% from recycling by 2035, backed by £50 million in new funding. The headline grabber—50,000 tonnes of lithium by 2035, “more than the Titanic”—signals a government eager to look muscular in a world of brittle supply chains.
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But experienced rare earth investors know the uncomfortable truth:
£50 million barely covers engineering studies for a modern midstream facility. The scale of China’s dominance—70% of mining, 90% of refining, and effectively 95%+ of magnet production—cannot be overturned by press releases alone.
What’s Real: Cornish Lithium, Clydach Nickel, and Europe’s Only REE Alloy Line
The strategy correctly highlights genuine UK assets:
- Cornwall’s lithium brines and hard-rock deposits,
- Clydach’s nickel refinery, a long-lived but strategically undervalued asset,
- The UK’s unique rare earth alloying capability—the lone Western source for certain magnet alloys.
These are legitimate national strengths. The UK does have world-class geology, deep mining finance expertise (London still matters), and leading academic clusters in magnet recycling and rare earth separation.
Where the Narrative Overreaches: A 2035 Vision with a 2025 Tool Kit
The promise to cap any mineral dependency to 60% from a single country reflects sound geopolitical thinking—but achieving it requires massive midstream construction, not incremental grants. Britain currently produces just 6% of its own critical minerals.
Scaling that to “strategic comfort” levels demands refineries, hydromet facilities, solvent-extraction units, alloy plants, and magnet lines. These cannot be conjured through rhetoric or small-scale funding pots. They require billions, not millions, alongside permitting reform, industrial offtakes, and patient investors.
The Politics Behind the Poetry
The tone of the announcement carries unmistakable political optimism. Phrases like “turbocharging domestic production” and “shoring up national security” play well in a post-Brexit industrial narrative. But the underlying bias is clear: the government positions itself as catalyst and guarantor, even though the heavy lifting must come from industry.
Notably absent: clear timelines for new rare earth separation capacity or magnet manufacturing, where the UK remains almost entirely dependent on imports.
What Matters for Investors
The strategy is directionally correct: recognition, at last, that the UK needs a real critical minerals base. The most investable pieces today?
- Cornish Lithium (backed by £31M)—credible geology, still early midstream.
- Ionic Technologies & Hypromag—recycling and alloying leadership.
- Nickel via Vale’s Clydach refinery—strategic but requires downstream integration.
The rest remains aspiration—worthy, but uncosted.
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Agreed, the money allotted is minimal in relation to actual UK metals chain needs. We will watch the niche RE recycling wannabees mentioned who have themselves received only small strategic backing from the UK. Peak got zero interest in building out its UK processor, so green ideology seems to dominate the island, even more so with a new Labor gov’ in charge. GLTA – REI