The work presented in these reports is not a statement of government policy.
The geological potential of the UK for battery minerals January 2023 (updated: March 2024)
These profiles form part of a series on the minerals the UK requires to transition its economy in the coming decades to net-zero emissions. These initial profiles focus on the minerals and metals required for the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries, used in electric vehicles.
To support government and the UK's Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, IOM3 consulted key stakeholders from across industry, associations and academia to undertake a preliminary assessment of the current critical minerals skills landscape to gain a qualitative understanding of the skills gaps and challenges.
Informed by current international best-practice for raw material criticality assessment, this report presents a thorough review of the indicators used in the 2021 'UK criticality assessment of technology critical minerals and metals'. These indicators have been modified where necessary. This includes the introduction of new data sets, as well as implementation of methodological improvements. The list of candidate materials to be considered in the next assessment will grow from 26 to 82. The report presents this revised methodology which will be used for the next UK criticality assessment in 2024.
This report documents large-scale publicly funded research programmes and projects relevant to critical minerals, and other research performed by industry and community groups. It aims to inform the critical minerals stakeholder community about the research and innovation landscape in the UK and provide a basis for constructing a critical minerals research and innovation framework to guide future investments and interventions.
The UK plans to establish a hydrogen economy to meet its target of producing green hydrogen energy by 2030. The scoping report reviews the sustainability of these targets and provides suggestions for overcoming potential challenges the UK may face in securing related mineral raw materials.
Manufacturing of cathode active materials for lithium-ion battery production in the UK will require a secure supply of nickel sulphate. This report assess the UK automotive sector demand for nickel up to 2040 and evaluates existing and future supply options. Identification of bottlenecks, challenges and risks in the value chains are identified and discussed alongside potential government and private sector interventions and investments to mitigate supply risk.
Mineral rights report — Knights PLC May 2023
The UK's Critical Minerals Strategy focusses on accelerating domestic capabilities, including reducing 'barriers to domestic exploration and extraction of critical minerals'. This includes a commitment to 'review mineral rights-related barriers to exploration and extraction of critical minerals and explore ways to improve the accessibility of mineral rights information'. This study addresses the legal context in England and Wales and provides a summary of title issues in Scotland. It reports the findings of a consultation exercise and provides conclusions and recommendations.
The UK aerospace industry is the second largest in the world. It is dependent on a range of minor metals, used to produce specialist alloys, sometimes referred to as high-performance or superalloys. Using a combination of desk-based research and stakeholder consultation, this scoping study reviews the importance of superalloys and associated metals in aerospace applications, assesses UK trade dependencies and international supply chains, and the challenges associated with security of supply and responsible sourcing.
Report providing national-scale assessment of the areas that have geological potential for critical raw material prospectivity in the UK. A mineral systems approach was used to identify broad areas that are potentially prospective for critical raw materials and that should be targeted for more detailed research and exploration.
Report providing a review of current global activities, research and policy relevant to identifying the key issues with critical raw materials resource management and the sustainability of their supply. The findings will be used to inform recommendations for reporting on, and management of, critical raw materials and identification of best practice in dealing with environmental, social, governance and circular economy-related issues.
Study reviewing the role of resource management tools developed by the United Nations Framework Classification and United Nations Resource Management System. Recommendations for improving the security and sustainability of critical raw materials supply are provided, using five case studies that consider activities spanning the entire value chain for critical raw materials. Particular consideration is given to environmental, social and governance aspects of critical raw material supply chains. UK expertise that could support development of a potential International Centre of Excellence on sustainable resource management are identified.
Report introducing lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), their key components, battery types, and their associated mineral raw material requirements. It considers the key drivers for developing a domestic LIB manufacturing sector, including the importance of the automotive sector to the UK economy and trends in electric vehicle (EV) sales, the implications of the UK-EU free trade agreement and manufactures commitments to produce LIBs in the UK.
The UK criticality assessment of technology critical minerals and metals was commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). 26 candidate materials were assessed for their potential criticality to the UK economy in terms of their global supply risk and the UK economic vulnerability to such a disruption. Eighteen of the these have a 'high' potential criticality rating based on these criteria, and constitute the UK Critical Minerals List 2021.