Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the impact on levels of land based extraction of critical minerals of emerging green industries.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Within the Critical Minerals Strategy, we are seeking to maximise what the UK can produce domestically, where viable for businesses and where it works for communities and our natural environment. As part of this effort, we commissioned an assessment of the UK’s geological potential for critical mineral extraction. In April this year, the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre published its report on “Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK”, which highlighted the UK’s potential to produce a variety of critical minerals, including lithium – a key ingredient of electric vehicles. It is a preliminary assessment, and the Government is working with the British Geological Survey to understand next steps.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment has she made of the potential impact of lithium resources available (a) in the UK, (a) in deposits in Cornwall and (b) from recycling on supply chain resilience.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
As part of the Critical Minerals Strategy, we are committed to exploring the UK’s geological potential for critical minerals (including lithium) as reflected by the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre’s (CMIC) report published on 17 April, “Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK.” It is a preliminary assessment, and the Government is working with the British Geological Survey to understand next steps.
In the case of minerals for electrical vehicle batteries, end-of-life recycling is expected to provide less than 1% of UK demand in 2030. However, by 2040, recycling is expected to account for 10-20% of battery mineral demand for electrical vehicles.
To promote recycling and recovery, the Government is funding the £30 million National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research (NICER) Programme, and UKRI has launched the Circular Critical Materials Supply Chains (CLIMATES) fund, with an initial £15 million to bolster UK rare earth element supply chain resilience.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make a comparative assessment of the (a) availability and (b) extraction cost for (i) land-based and (ii) sea bed critical minerals.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
There is no deep-sea mining currently happening in areas beyond national jurisdictions.
The Government commissioned an independent review from the British Geological Survey, the National Oceanography Centre and Heriot-Watt University, to support informed decision making regarding potential future development of mineral resources in the deep sea.
Chapter Four of that review addresses Economics, and the full document (published in October 2022) is available here:
https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/deep-sea-mining-evidence-review-published/
Asked by: Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government to ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the British Geological Survey, Potential for Critical Raw Material Prospectivity in the UK, published on 17 April, which identified potentially strategically important deposits throughout the UK; and what assessment they have made of the ability of local planning authorities to process related planning applications efficiently.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
'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.
The Government recognises that many local planning authorities are facing capacity and capability challenges. To make sure that local planning authorities are able to deliver an effective planning service and our proposed reforms we are developing a programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector. The capacity and capability programme will seek to provide the direct support that is needed now, deliver training opportunities for existing planners, and further develop the future pipeline into the profession. In addition, we recently consulted on proposals to increase planning fees by 35% for major applications and 25% for all other applications to increase resourcing and improve the performance of local planning authorities.
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.