Critical Minerals Strategy

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris McDonald]

I can assure my hon. Friend that the Government are extremely concerned about the ecological impact of deep-sea mining. The Government support a moratorium on—I choose my words carefully here—the exploitation of deep-sea mining, while allowing for the exploration of deep-sea mining. As a scientist and engineer myself, I think that the exploration is valuable, to ensure that we gather appropriate data, and I recently commissioned work from the chief scientific adviser in my Department to be fully appraised of the potential environmental impacts of deep-sea mining.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister very much for his positive statement. It is great that the Government’s critical minerals strategy aims to reduce our over-reliance on foreign suppliers and to build a more resilient domestic supply chain, which is central to our growth sectors and to clean energy. He referred to the critical and important role of Queen’s University Belfast in magnet-recycling technologies. What steps have been taken to ensure good collaboration with the devolved Governments, to unlock further incentives for extraction projects, and to support domestic improvements through our minerals strategy?

[Chris McDonald]

The hon. Gentleman is right to point out that the critical minerals strategy will benefit every nation in the UK, including Northern Ireland. I am particularly keen to learn more about the ionic liquid separation methods of Ionic Technologies, which has been a flagship project for Queen’s University Belfast. I wrote to the relevant Ministers in the devolved Governments before the launch of the strategy, and I am keen to continue working with them on it.