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.

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.