Signal UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre established

Summary

The report cites the creation of the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre as a UK mitigation against competition for critical minerals. The centre supplies current data and analysis so that the list of minerals essential to the UK economy can be kept up to date. Building on the centre's refreshed criticality assessment, the government plans to publish a new Critical Minerals Strategy with industry in 2025. The report explains that critical minerals are vital to the economy yet exposed to supply risks from fast demand growth, concentrated supply chains and high price volatility. The UK defence sector also relies on them to field advanced military capability, and prolonged disruption could limit the UK's freedom of action. The report judges that steadier supply chains would cut costs and delays and help speed up net zero projects.