Proposals to finance mines and processing
In a report published November 5, 2026, the cross-party Business and Trade Sub-Committee on Economic Security, Arms and Export Controls called for a "new approach to financing the metals and mining sector". It judged the government's progress "at best opaque" and said it could not be confident that current policy passed any of the report's ten tests.
The committee's five-part "precision de-risk" plan includes a Critical Minerals Finance Facility that would coordinate UK public finance institutions. The proposed facility would support strategic projects using equity, loans, long-term offtake agreements and price floors.
Another proposal would establish allied "buyers' clubs" to spread the cost of developing mines and smelters. Individual projects can cost as much as $3 billion, according to the report.
Lawmakers also want British International Investment to be able to acquire equity stakes in overseas mining projects and UK Export Finance to have a broader mandate covering economic security. They recommend reducing the National Wealth Fund's £25 million minimum equity investment, saying the threshold makes smaller, early-stage projects difficult to finance.
Import reliance and China's market power
Britain imports nearly all of its critical minerals and refined products. The report describes the supply chains on which it depends as both concentrated and complex.
China holds the largest market shares in refined copper, lithium, cobalt, graphite, manganese and rare earths, and the committee says it has begun using that dominance as leverage. The Critical Minerals Association called the situation "the biggest vulnerability in the western world".
International Energy Agency estimates cited in the report put China first in refining 19 of 20 strategic minerals, with an average market share of 70%. The report also says China accounts for 95% of global gallium production and 93% of germanium production.
The report points to China's April 2025 export controls on a group of rare earth elements, which applied without targeting specific countries. The restrictions prompted temporary plant shutdowns, including at Ford in the United States. A US-China agreement in November 2025 suspended parts of the controls; that reprieve was subsequently extended to January 2027 following the Chinese president's visit to Washington.
Rising demand and barriers at home
The committee's criticism comes despite the government's acknowledgment that demand is expected to rise sharply by 2030. For the eight growth-driving sectors in its Industrial Strategy, government projections cited in the report put lithium demand at 113,400 metric tons in 2030, up from 2,525 in 2024, or about 45 times higher.
Over the same period, rare earth demand is projected to increase from 1,161 to 18,020 metric tons, about 16 times higher. The projected multiples are 15 for graphite, 13 for cobalt and eight for nickel.
The committee also identified obstacles to expanding domestic supply. Geological surveys are out of date, while high energy costs make processing in the UK uneconomic. Meanwhile, 80% of the country's metal waste goes overseas rather than being recycled domestically.
Government cites funding and 2035 targets
The government published "Vision 2035: Critical Minerals Strategy" in November 2025. Following the initial strategy in 2022 and a refresh in 2023, it was the UK's third critical minerals strategy in four years.
Responding to the report, a government spokesperson told the Guardian that £400 million was being delivered "to ramp up domestic production and recycling". The spokesperson cited targets for 2035: domestic production should meet 10% of demand and recycling another 20%, while no single country should supply more than 60% of any critical mineral.
