Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the publication of the Critical Mineral Strategy, what steps is his Department taking to engage with mineral-rich countries.

We work collaboratively with mineral producing countries, putting environmental, social and governance considerations at the heart of our engagement. In recent months the UK has signed a Partnership on Minerals for Future Clean Energy Technologies with South Africa and agreed to deepen collaboration on critical minerals with Saudi Arabia. To support this work, I will be travelling to the Mining Indaba in South Africa, where I will meet with my ministerial counterparts to strengthen UK ties with key producer countries, attend the Minerals Security Partnership Ministerial, and promote the UK’s key role in global critical mineral supply chains