IOM3 welcomes announcement of new UK Critical Minerals Strategy
At Resourcing Tomorrow, Minister Sarah Jones announced a new Critical Minerals Strategy will be launched next year.
IOM3 is pleased to see confirmation from the UK government that a new Critical Minerals Strategy will be published in Spring 2025. This significant announcement was made by Industry Minister Sarah Jones MP at the Resourcing Tomorrow conference. Supported by IOM3, it is Europe’s largest mining event, where over 100 companies from the global mining supply chain gathered to discuss the future of critical minerals.
According to the Minister, the new strategy aims to support the industries of tomorrow, focusing on the UK’s most critical sectors, including automotive, technology, and renewable energy. In her speech, Minister Jones highlighted the growing demand for critical minerals, stating, ‘We need critical minerals for everything and we’ll need a lot more if we want a thriving car sector, a world-leading tech ecosystem, and secure renewable energy.'
The strategy is expected to target the development of resilient supply chains for critical materials over the next decade and beyond, job creation, economic growth, and business confidence in the UK’s industrial sectors. It will also tie into the broader Government’s industrial strategy vision, which aims to drive growth in the UK’s most important sectors.
IOM3 CEO, Dr Colin Church FIMMM said, ‘IOM3 welcomes this announcement of a new strategy to address the UK's need for critical materials, building on the recent new criticality assessment from CMIC. We look forward to working with the government to ensure the extensive expertise of our members feeds into this work. Alongside the elements already highlighted, we will also want to see the Strategy reflect the importance of greater circularity and of demand management in ensuring that the UK increases its resilience to supply chain risks.’
The strategy will seek to involve collaboration with international partners including through forums like the Minerals Security Partnership and use data-driven strategies to ensure the sustainable and secure supply of critical minerals. Additionally, the government’s recognition of the UK’s world-class academic expertise, such as the University of Birmingham’s rare earth magnet research and the Camborne School of Mines’ mining engineering expertise, demonstrates the importance of nurturing innovation and global partnerships.
The government's focus on resilient supply chains for critical materials ties directly into our 2024–2025 policy priorities including establishing a comprehensive UK Materials Strategy, bolstering the UK’s approach to critical materials and supporting the necessary talent pipeline. This new strategy has the potential to help ensure sustainable materials management, strengthen supply chains, and support the low-carbon transition.
In a Westminster Hall debate on critical minerals held yesterday, Minister Jones stated ‘The industrial strategy, Skills England and our critical minerals strategy all need to feed into the same outcome: to secure jobs and growth for our communities and our people.
As highlighted in the IOM3 report The talent gap: critical skills for critical materials and recent joint letter to the Education Secretary of State there are significant and growing skills gaps along the critical minerals value chains as well as a decline in relevant education and training provision. A joined up and focussed approach to skills will be vital to ensure the workforce required to deliver the ambitions of the new strategy.
We’re proud to continue to work closely with the government and stakeholders to support the development of this critical strategy. With the right policy framework, the UK can take a leading role in securing the critical materials essential for a sustainable future.
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