Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Critical Minerals

Thursday 18 May 2023 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • UK Department is accelerating domestic capabilities along the critical minerals value chain from mining to manufacturing.
  • Government published a refreshed delivery approach including the establishment of an industry taskforce on critical minerals.
  • UK has committed not to sponsor or support deep-sea mining projects unless there is significant scientific evidence about potential impacts.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Andrew Selous Con
Climate Energy Business & Trade
Context

The MP is concerned about securing a resilient supply of critical minerals to avoid reliance on China.

Question

What steps her Department is taking to support the critical minerals industry. The demand for graphite, lithium and cobalt is expected to quadruple by the 2040s. With supply currently dominated by China, what can the Government do to extract rapidly the deposits identified in all four nations of the United Kingdom so that we can gain a climate action dividend and level up the United Kingdom?

Answer from Nusrat Ghani

As part of the UK's strategy, we are accelerating domestic capabilities along the whole critical minerals value chain from mining to manufacturing. We published a refreshed delivery approach including the establishment of an industry taskforce on critical minerals. The Government is funding projects such as Cornish Lithium and Green Lithium, which build resilient value chains here in the UK.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific steps for rapid extraction and reducing reliance on China were not provided.

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Q2 Andrew Selous Con
Environment
Context

Concerns about the lack of understanding of environmental impacts from deep-sea mining.

Question

Many are clamouring for the rights for deep-sea mining to extract critical minerals, but we know little about the seabed and the knock-on effects there could be on the environment and ecology of the deep sea and the wider oceans. Will the Minister continue to support a moratorium on deep-sea mining through the International Seabed Authority until we have a better understanding of those environmental impacts?

Answer from Nusrat Ghani

There is no deep-sea mining currently happening in areas beyond national jurisdictions. The UK has committed not to sponsor or support the issue of any exploitation licences for deep-sea mining projects unless and until there is significant scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep-sea ecosystems.

Answered
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Q3 Clive Efford Lab Eltham and Chislehurst
Business & Trade
Context

The MP wants to know about the Government's support for domestic extraction of critical minerals.

Question

What steps her Department is taking to support the critical minerals industry. The demand for graphite, lithium and cobalt is expected to quadruple by the 2040s. With supply currently dominated by China, what can the Government do to extract rapidly the deposits identified in all four nations of the United Kingdom so that we can gain a climate action dividend and level up the United Kingdom?

Answer from Nusrat Ghani

My hon. Friend is right. One reason why I came back into government was to ensure that we were not reliant on one country, China. We need more lithium, cobalt and graphite as does everybody else to make batteries for electric cars, and we need silicon and tin for electronics. We welcome the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre's report which we commissioned.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific steps for rapid extraction and reducing reliance on China were not provided.

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