The UK Rare Earth and Critical Minerals Sector in 2026

Highlights

• UK's Vision 2035 targets 10% of critical mineral demand from domestic production and 20% from recycling by 2035
• Less Common Metals (LCM), acquired by USA Rare Earth, remains the UK's anchor rare-earth metals and alloys business at its Cheshire facility
• HyProMag's Tyseley Energy Park achieved first commercial-scale sintered rare-earth magnet production in 2025, the first in Britain in 25 years
• Metalysis in South Yorkshire offers solid-state electrolysis with claimed 50% energy savings, now producing commercial aluminum-scandium powder
• Britain's strength lies in metallurgy, recycling, engineering, and mining finance rather than domestic mine supply, but its midstream role is significant

The United Kingdom (UK) rare earth story is real, but it is not mainly a mining story. The government’s 2026 Vision 2035 (opens in a new tab) explicitly says Britain’s comparative edge is in midstream processing and recycling, and it sets targets for 10% of annual UK critical-mineral demand to be met by domestic production and 20% by recycling by 2035. The UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (opens in a new tab) adds a serious public-policy backbone, providing independent analysis for a country that still imports almost all critical minerals. The nation’s focus on the midstream chokepoint certainly makes sense given China’s monopoly.

The Industrial Core

Less Common Metals (LCM), now acquired by America-based USA Rare Earth, remains the UK’s anchor rare-earth metals and alloys business. LCM says it has been commercially producing Nd, NdPr, Dy, and Tb metals since 2017 and, in its Ford/Ionic work, performs the metallization step that converts recovered oxides into high-purity metals and strip-cast alloys for recycled magnets.

After its 2025 acquisition by USA Rare Earth, LCM said its Cheshire facility (near Liverpool) was secure for expansion, underscoring that the UK still hosts one of the West’s few serious rare-earth midstream assets.

Recycling and Materials Technology

Mkango’s HyProMag Birmingham platform (opens in a new tab) represents an important British development. HyProMag’s Tyseley Energy Park facility (opens in a new tab) achieved first production in June 2025 and was officially opened in January 2026; Mkango says it is the UK’s only commercial-scale sintered rare-earth magnet facility, while the University of Birmingham says it brings commercial sintered magnet manufacturing back to Britain for the first time in 25 years. The rare earth recycling facility utilizes HPMS (Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap) developed in the Magnetic Materials Group (MMG) at the University of Birmingham (opens in a new tab).

Mkango’s April 2026 update showed 9.2 tonnes of recycled NdFeB alloy powder produced to date, customer work with Siemens, and evaluation of a phased expansion toward 1,000 tpa.

Metalysis (opens in a new tab), soon to be on the Rare Earth Exchanges™ podcast, adds another serious capability from South Yorkshire: a commercially proven solid-state electrolysis platform, claimed 50% energy savings versus traditional methods, and now commercial aluminum-scandium powder production for semiconductor, aerospace, and defense demand.

The Listed Bench and London’s Role

A REEx community member suggested we dedicate more coverage to Britain. This is fair—British efforts are overlooked in at least one respect: the UK bench is broader than many outsiders admit. Mkango (MKA) is listed in London and Canada and now spans Malawi upstream with UK and German recycling; Pensana (PRE (opens in a new tab)) still says Saltend (opens in a new tab) is strategically important to UK and European demand, even as its latest 2026 messaging emphasizes a U.S. mine-to-magnet strategy given the aggressive moves by President Trump in his 2.0 administration; Tungsten West (TUN) (opens in a new tab) is focused on restarting Hemerdon mine (opens in a new tab) in Devon; Strategic Minerals (opens in a new tab) (SML) is advancing Redmoor in Cornwall; Great Western Mining (opens in a new tab) (GWMO) is fast-tracking tungsten in Nevada from London’s junior market; and the City-based Alkemy (opens in a new tab) (ALK), while lithium rather than rare earths, represents the same UK midstream ambition through Tees Valley.

Rare Earth Exchanges was also right to note that mining-finance expertise clusters in London, Toronto, Perth, and Sydney, not just Wall Street, and the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) describes itself as Europe’s most successful growth market.

So our honest verdict: Britain is stronger in metallurgy, recycling, engineering, and finance than in domestic mine supply (although some mines are reopening)—but it is materially more important than a footnote, and some serious, powerful midstream capability emerges out of the UK.