Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had recent discussions with the Welsh Government on the implications for her policies of the report by the British Geological Survey for the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre entitled Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK, published on 17 April 2023.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
“Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK” was a study undertaken by CMIC, a programme sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade and delivered by the British Geological Survey. This report delivers on the Critical Minerals Strategy’s commitment to collate UK geoscientific data and identify areas of geological potential for critical mineral extraction. It is a preliminary assessment, and its findings do not mean prospective areas identified will necessarily be targeted for exploration and mining. The
Government is working with the British Geological Survey to understand next steps and will engage with Devolved Administrations when appropriate.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions she has had with the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre on (a) the amount of critical mineral deposits available in Wales and (b) the value of those deposits.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
“Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK” was a study undertaken by CMIC, a programme sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade and delivered by the British Geological Survey. This report delivers on the Critical Minerals Strategy’s commitment to collate UK geoscientific data and identify areas of geological potential for critical mineral extraction. It is a preliminary assessment, and its findings do not mean prospective areas identified will necessarily be targeted for exploration and mining. The
Government is working with the British Geological Survey to understand next steps and will engage with Devolved Administrations when appropriate.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department is taking steps to help protect the supply of silicon metal from Brazil to the UK.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government's Critical Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals Refresh, published in March this year, set out steps to improve the supply chain resilience of critical minerals in the UK. We are collaborating with our international partners to create a resilient and diverse global critical minerals supply chain, including for silicon metal which was one of the cohort of minerals identified by the British Geological Survey last year as having high criticality for the UK.
The UK recognises Brazil as a key player in critical minerals, producing 11% of the world’s silicon metal and 84% of the world’s niobium.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to attract battery recycling investment to the UK.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Critical Minerals Refresh published in March, sets out our approach to delivering on the Critical Minerals Strategy, and confirms our participation in the Minerals Security Partnership. Working with international partners, this aims to spur investment in supply chains across four pillars, including recycling and reuse, and will support our work to accelerate a circular economy of critical minerals in the UK.
The Government is also funding record investment in battery innovation and commercialisation, including in recycling. The £541m Faraday Battery Challenge is supporting projects such as REBLEND, which is developing commercial processes to directly recover valuable cathode active materials (CAM) for reuse in automotive batteries. The project is led by Ecoshred, with University of Leicester, University of Birmingham, Minviro, Iconichem Widnes, Watercycle Technologies, Ecolamp Recycling, and Cornish Lithium.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the report by the British Geological Society entitled Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK, published on 17 April 2023, what steps her Department is taking to develop a domestic critical minerals industry.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The report “Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK” delivers on the commitment in the Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy to collate geoscientific data and identify target areas of potential for critical minerals within the UK. We are working with the British Geological Survey to understand next steps.
Through the Critical Minerals Strategy we are working to accelerate the UK’s domestic capabilities along the whole critical minerals value chain. Our support for businesses like Cornish Lithium and Green Lithium shows our determination to put the Strategy into action. We have also established the new Task & Finish Group on Industry Resilience for Critical Minerals which will investigate the critical mineral dependencies and vulnerabilities faced by UK Industry and help it to mitigate risks.
Asked by: Henry Smith (Conservative - Crawley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, steps her Department is taking to increase investment in the domestic battery recycling industry.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Critical Minerals Refresh published in March, sets out our approach to delivering on the Critical Minerals Strategy, and confirms our participation in the Minerals Security Partnership. Working with international partners, this aims to spur investment in supply chains across four pillars, including recycling and reuse, and will support our work to accelerate a circular economy of critical minerals in the UK.
The Government is also funding record investment in battery innovation and commercialisation, including in recycling. The £541m Faraday Battery Challenge is supporting projects such as REBLEND, which is developing commercial processes to directly recover valuable cathode active materials (CAM) for reuse in automotive batteries. The project is led by Ecoshred, with University of Leicester, University of Birmingham, Minviro, Iconichem Widnes, Watercycle Technologies, Ecolamp Recycling, and Cornish Lithium.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what her Department's strategy is for the mining of UK minerals through clean technology for energy security.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
To help secure the supply of critical minerals, as well as increase confidence in the UK’s energy transition, government has published a Critical Minerals Refresh, setting out our refreshed approach to delivering the Critical Minerals Strategy. The UK has pockets of mineral wealth and as home to major global mining companies has unique strengths in mineral and mining expertise, R&D, finance, and standards.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by the British Geological Survey for UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre on Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK, published on 17 April.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
“Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK” was a study undertaken by the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, a programme sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade and delivered by the British Geological Survey. This report delivers on the Critical Minerals Strategy’s commitment to collate geoscientific data and identify target areas of potential for critical minerals within the UK. It is a preliminary assessment, and its findings do not mean that the prospective areas identified will necessarily be targeted for exploration and mining. The Government is working with the British Geological Survey to understand next steps.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre holds accountability to the Scottish (a) Government and (b) Parliament.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government launched the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) in July 2022. It is a research programme, delivered via the British Geological Survey, to provide data and analysis on supply, demand, and market dynamics of critical minerals. Funding is provided by the Department for Business and Trade. CMIC does not hold legal status as an organisation and is not accountable to either the Scottish or UK Parliaments. A Memorandum of Understanding between Government and the British Geological Survey sets out the programme’s rationale, objectives, spend profile, deliverables and governance.
Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uks-first-critical-minerals-intelligence-centre-to-help-build-a-more-resilient-economy .
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what UK minerals his Department accepts as critical to clean technology and energy security.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
In 2022 the British Geological Survey (BGS) carried out its first criticality assessment and, according to economic vulnerability and supply risk, defined a cohort of minerals with high criticality for the UK: https://www.bgs.ac.uk/download/uk-criticality-assessment-of-technology-critical-minerals-and-metals/. The Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) – led by the BGS – will evaluate the criticality of minerals on a regular basis, with the next assessment scheduled later this year.
In addition, the industry-led Task and Finish Group on Critical Mineral Resilience, announced as part of the Critical Minerals Strategy Refresh on 23rd March, is investigating critical mineral dependencies, vulnerabilities, and opportunities across UK industry sectors, including manufacturers for clean energy technologies.