2024 has been a year of global political, economic and social transformation and disruption. Elections across the world have led to changing administrations, rising geopolitical tensions and increasing export restrictions. Attention to critical minerals is at an all-time high, with international and national initiatives racing to meet future demand while addressing calls for decarbonisation and sustainability.
The Critical Mineral Association (UK)’s 4th Annual Conference invited stakeholders from across industry, government and academia to reflect upon the past year, and ask the question - how can the UK learn from and collaborate with its partners to capitalise on this momentum, and avoid falling behind in the global race to secure critical minerals?
CMA (UK) welcomed more than 300 delegates from across the world to the Royal College of Physicians in Regent’s Park, London on the 2nd of December, 2024. Our delegates included parliamentarians, miners, processors, recyclers, lawyers, consultants, researchers, innovators, journalists, government officials and many more.
The conference commenced with a Breakfast Reception, overlooking the College’s beautiful Medicinal Gardens. Jeff Townsend, founder of the Critical Minerals Association (UK) and Critical Minerals International Alliance (CMIA), was joined by officers of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Critical Minerals, including its Chair, Noah Law MP, and Co-Chairs Perran Moon MP and Baroness Lindsay Northover.
The conference began in the Wolfson Theatre, where Jeff Townsend, founder of CMA (UK), offered welcoming remarks. The first presentation of the day was delivered by Dr Shobhan Dhir, Critical Minerals Analyst at the International Energy Agency (IEA), who provided a sweeping overview of the past year's market trends, as well as future outlooks for supply and demand risks based on the IEA’s Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2024.
Dr Dhir outlined the stories of the past year: falling prices, robust momentum in recycling innovation and clean energy deployment, and booming demand for minerals. Despite this, there has been limited progress in diversifying supply and asset ownership.
Meanwhile, announced projects indicate that Latin America, Africa and Indonesia are seeing a growing market value from their mining operations – a promising development in support of ‘equity in critical mineral supply chains’, as echoed recently at COP29 in Baku.
The IEA’s resilience analysis still reveals significant vulnerabilities, particularly for nickel and battery-grade graphite. The nature of the risks also varies; for example, lithium and copper are more exposed to supply and volume risks, whereas graphite, cobalt, REEs and nickel face more substantial geopolitical risks.
Oliver Richards, Head of the Critical Minerals team at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), kick-started the first session of the day, dedicated to the UK Approach to Critical Minerals. He provided context for the Government’s new strategy, which will be underpinned by the new Industrial Strategy, Invest 2035, as well as a goal to make Britain a clean energy superpower. Oliver pointed to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s launching of the Global Clean Power Alliance at the G20 in Rio de Janeiro on 19 November, as well as the establishment of Great British Energy to drive clean energy deployment and turbocharge energy independence. “I mention [these] things because, very obviously, they depend on critical minerals, which is why we’re here today,” Oliver said.
The UK’s approach to critical minerals is characterised by three priorities: to secure supply for UK industry; deliver economic growth for the UK; and contribute to the global resilience of critical mineral supply chains. Oliver highlighted the various funding initiatives that are supporting this, such as the Automotive Transformation Fund at the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC UK), the creation of the National Wealth Fund (NWF), and credit financing from UK Export Finance (UKEF).
The UK is also collaborating with its international partners to achieve its critical mineral ambitions. Oliver provided a comprehensive list of the UK’s bilaterial agreements and multilateral engagements, including the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) - a group of 15 member nations, led by the United States and European Union, committed to bolstering public and private investment into strategic mineral projects of high ESG standards. MSP strategic projects include Pensana and HyProMag, both of which are helping to fortify REE supply for the UK and its allies.
Continuing the UK session, George Hames from UKEF outlined his department’s role in delivering strategic projects across diverse sectors, and how their team plans to enhance support for securing overseas critical minerals offtake and goods imports. Earlier this year in October, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves released the UK Government’s 2024 Autumn Budget 2024, which allocated the first time a portion of public funding for critical mineral importers.
George shared how UKEF is best positioned to support the UK’s high-growth sectors and de-risking of global supply chains, providing the scale and percentage of its loan guarantees, alongside competitive rates, versatile currency options, focus on positive local impact, adoption of ESHR standards, and scope for additional financing if UK goods and services are contracted.
A few days before the conference, the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) at the British Geological Survey (BGS) released its 2024 UK Criticality Assessment, providing an updated version of the UK’s Critical Minerals List. Gavin Mudd, Director of CMIC, wrapped up our UK session by detailing the methodology and criteria used to identify critical minerals essential for the UK’s economic security and energy transition, as well as comparing it to the approach taken in 2021. He also expounded how the new list will impact UK industry, supply chains and policy development, as well as signal to investors and innovators the UK Government’s new priorities.
The new List designated 34 out of 85 candidate materials as critical minerals – a significant increase from the 2021 assessment which assessed only 26 and designated 18. Gavin also highlighted the BGS’s Demand Foresight Studies, which assess future supply and demand for key technologies and materials, whilst the Criticality Assessment focuses on current data.
Meanwhile, in the Thomas Cotton Room, ERM welcomed government and industry for a roundtable discussion on critical mineral opportunities in Cornwall and the South West of England. Those present included Camborne School of Mines, Met4Tech, Cornish Lithium, Noah Law MP, Perran Moon MP, and other UK government and South West stakeholders. The session focused on the vast potential, opportunities and barriers to the development of an integrated green energy sector in the South West, as well as the importance of critical minerals to this transition. Outcomes included recommendations to improve grid capacity and local infrastructure and eliminate barriers to finance.
Our second session on International Approaches to Critical Minerals began with a panel discussion on how to build a competitive European continent. We welcomed a powerhouse of experts for this discussion: Margery Ryan (Johnson Matthey), Sanela Karić (Adriatic Metals), Philipa Varris (Mkango Resources Ltd.), Jane Joughin (SRK Consulting), and Ludivine Wouters (Latitude Five). Our five speakers discussed key issues and drivers in EU mineral policy discourse, and priorities moving into the new year. The importance of integrated approaches and attracting investment, addressing lack of ‘knowledge capital’, and building trust through responsible practices were recurrent themes in the conversation.
After exploring the situation in Europe, we then pivoted across the Atlantic to Canada. Vice Chair of the APPG, Baroness Northover, welcomed the Honourable Stephen Crawford, Associate Minister of Mines for the Government of Ontario, to the stage for a fireside chat. Stephen was elected as the MPP (Member of Provincial Parliament) for Oakville in 2018, and again in 2022. Due to Ontario’s rapidly expanding mining portfolio, Premier Doug Ford created a new ministerial position and appointed Stephen as Ontario’s Associate Minister of Mines in June 2024, focused on specific aspects of the mining sector such as critical minerals and sustainability. Together the Minister and Baroness Northover discussed some of the initiatives and opportunities in his home province for critical minerals, and how Ontario is setting an example for the rest of the world in responsible mining by pioneering advanced technology, circular economy initiatives and indigenous partnerships.
Delegates were invited back to the Osler Room for lunch, networking, and exploration of the exhibition floor with stands by our event sponsors, SRK Consulting and Cornish Metals, as well as the Department for Business and Trade, Satarla, Critical Productions, and a Perceptions and Engagement Stand led by Lily Dickson (CMA (UK)).
After lunch, Sam Eastwood (Mayer Brown) moderated a panel discussion on ‘ESG in Action: Transparency, Compliance and Anti-Corruption', kindly sponsored by the Risk Advisory Group. Experts David Liebscher (National Crime Agency), Tilly Prior (Transparency International), Romea Dennis (Vale Base Metals) and Huw Charles (Risk Advisory) explored approaches to ESG from industry, government and NGO perspectives.
Through deeper multi-stakeholder dialogue, MSP nations can promote best practices and standards that minimise corruption and poor governance. The mining sector always needs to address a multitude of ESG concerns: environmental degradation, forced labour, financial crime, supply chain transparency, as well as dozens of standards, emerging due diligence legislation and increased enforcement and litigation risk. Together the panel explored enforcement and reporting mechanisms in the UK, cooperation between government authorities and corporations, and the link between anti-corruption and human rights. “There’s often a blurred line between anti-corruption and broader ESG issues, particularly in the mining sector,” said Huw. He provided a case study on a company seeking to bring local communities into its ownership structure, as did David, who shared how Gemfields collaborated and provided evidence to the NCA that led to the arrest of the President of Madagascar’s Chief of Staff on bribery charges.
In the Platt Room, our sister association CMA Australia hosted a private workshop with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), called ‘Financing Critical Minerals – Is a Green Taxonomy the Way Forward?’. Participants gathered to discuss key financing issues in the critical minerals space to help the government understand how it can best support greater investment in this sector, which could have positive impacts on the UK’s Clean Energy Mission. The workshop brought together leading experts from the mining and finance sectors and considered the value case for developing a UK Green Taxonomy.
Afterwards, our sister associations CMA USA and CMA Australia opened their International Room, inviting stakeholders from across the globe to their side event which explored exciting projects and opportunities in their jurisdictions, as well as the implications of recent elections for their nations’ critical mineral strategies. Attendees gathered to discuss the state of play in the United States and Australia’s critical minerals sector and its relationship with the UK and beyond. The need for a viable midstream, international cooperation, global financing solutions and the direction of government policy were key issues discussed.
Afterwards, Dr Sarah Gordon (Satarla) invited Jeff Bormann (Bioscope Technologies), Nic Stirk (Materials Nexus), Julian Hetherington (Advanced Propulsion Centre UK), Martyn Cherrington (UK Research and Innovation) to the stage for a panel discussion on ‘Growing UK Innovation for Global Impact’. The discussion explored how the UK is driving technological advancement in the critical minerals sector, and how stakeholders can continue to work together to solidify the UK as a leader in creating commercially viable, scalable solutions with global impact.
The UK has implemented a number of innovation grant programmes and bilateral partnerships for critical minerals technology development over the past few years. Rio Tinto’s recent investment of $150m to Imperial College London’s Centre for Future Materials demonstrates how seriously industry is taking the opportunity to collaborate with academia. Our speakers discussed how to leverage the UK’s academic excellence and world-leading research base, particularly in rare earths and urban mining, and the importance of strategic and targeted funding to unlock potential, looking to Innovate UK’s CLIMATES programme and the APC UK’s Automotive Transformation Fund as examples. They also highlighted the need to innovate and support start-ups in the circular economy and material substitution, to ease the demand burden from primary extraction.
Gaud Pouliquen (Bell Geospace), Dr Sarah-Jane Gill (UK Space Agency, Allison Britt (Geoscience Australia), Chris Yeomans (Cornish Lithium), and Dennis Rowland (Cornwall Resources) came together to discuss ‘New Tools for Prospectivity: AI, Availability, and Funding’. Government investment into geological mapping creates incentives and opportunities for exploration and investment to occur. Our speakers shared the latest advancements in prospectivity technology, with Dr Sarah-Jane highlighting the UKSA-funded Satellites for Batteries project led by Cornish Lithium and a consortium of tech and academic partners, which utilised satellite data and machine learning to identify targets for lithium and other minerals. “We almost have to treat data as a sentient being”, said Gaud. “You can spend a million dollars on getting the best sensor... but at the end of the day, if you don’t valorise the data, if you let it sit on a shelf, you waste it. Data needs nurturing. It grows. It brings value if you do something with it.” Our speakers also discussed emerging techniques and issues such subsurface modelling, the potential and feasibility of space mining, and the roles of automation and artificial intelligence (AI).
Jeff Townsend then invited Jamie Strauss (Digbee), Sarah Gordon (Satarla), James Whiteside (National Wealth Fund) and Simon Garnder-Bond (TechMet) on stage for a panel discussion on ‘Addressing Risk and Restructuring Finance’. Despite increasingly widespread recognition of the importance of critical minerals to the energy transition, many companies developing mineral assets are struggling to access capital. The panel came together to ascertain what makes a project ‘investable’ from ESG, government and private finance perspectives, as well provide an overview of the market’s current challenges and opportunities.
Jamie expressed concern over some of the developments of the last decade, including the exponential growth of passive funds and the steady erasure of small-cap sectors, as well as the fact that mining struggles with a reputation of execution risk that prevents new money from flowing into the sector. “The reality is this is a broken market, and state intervention is now the new norm,” said Jeff. Our speakers explored how certainty can be injected back into business opportunities, emphasizing the necessity of sustainability and transparency in re-building trust and confidence, and what the role of policy is in de-risking.
In the Seligman Theatre downstairs, the side event ‘Critical Mineral Partnership Opportunities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, hosted by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), began with a session spotlighting the Republic of Kazakhstan. We welcomed presentations from Al-Farabi Ydyryshev, Director of the National Centre for Technological Foresight at the Ministry of Industry and Construction; Nariman Abylkanov, Director of ZhezkazganRedMet; Sarmat Daulbayev and Ruslan Myrzakhmet from the Ulba Metallurgical Plant; and Armanbek Omirgali from KazAtomProm, Kazakhstan’s national atomic company which is exploring prospects for REE production. We were honoured to welcome the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the UK, Magzhan Ilyassov.
The next session focused on Mongolia, and featured presentations from Munkhbileg Namsrai, Director of Mineral Resources at the National Geological Survey on the status of the nation’s critical minerals research and results, and the Executive Director of Altangol Bolor LLC on their progressing Altan Silica Sand project. To wrap up, Chris Allum from UK Export Finance (UKEF) gave a brief presentation on UKEF’s new financing for critical minerals projects, followed up by a Q&A session for all the speakers.
The final panel of the day in the Wolfson Theatre welcomed Professor Frances Wall (Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter), Professor Gavin Bridge (Durham University), George Dunleavy (Department for Business and Trade), and Lucy Crane (Cornish Lithium) to discuss the issue of ‘Bridging the Talent Gap – Critical Mineral Skills for a Green Future’. The Department of Education’s (DfE) 2024 Skills England report cites the need for ‘access to skilled physical scientists, engineers and other critical minerals related skills’ to drive economic growth. Universities, industries and governments all play a role in maximising education and recruitment incentives, but in what ways can they work together?
Our speakers discussed innovative methods and models for bringing in new talent and retaining old talent, emphasising the drop in student recruitment across geoscience degrees in the UK. Frances and Gavin detailed how UK universities are beginning to adapt their curricula and shift towards more transdisciplinary research priorities. “Many of the jobs and issues in critical minerals are above ground,” said Gavin. “Law, planning, digitalisation, and logistics are increasingly an important part of delivering these projects. It’s a very plural, very diverse sector in terms of jobs.” There remains, however, a difficulty in quantifying the scale of the skills gap, George highlighted, due to the outdated nature of the UK’s SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes. Nonetheless, the DfE’s Skills England presents a significant opportunity to evaluate the national and regional landscape of the UK, and industry looks forward to its publication. To wrap up the session, Lucy opened the floor to questions, and our speakers were pleased to receive insights and inquiries from many employers and students in the audience.
The event ended at the beautiful Dorchester Library with our Drinks Reception, kindly sponsored by Rio Tinto, Vale, Bioscope Technologies, Camborne School of Mines and Mayer Brown.
If you missed the event, you can now watch the discussions here.
We owe thanks to many, all of whom without this conference would not have been possible. Thank you to our wonderful speakers, chairs and delegates, many of whom travelled considerable distances to join us in London. Thank you to our event sponsors SRK Consulting and Cornish Metals, for their generosity. Thank you to the team at the Royal College of Physicians for helping us to realise our vision for the event at the beautiful and historic venue of the Royal College of Physicians: Fairouz, Sarah, Daria and Milad. Thank you to the CMA (UK) team – Eileen Maes, Jeff Townsend, Enzo Granzella, Lily Dickson and Becca Kirk – as well as our wider team of helpers of the day: Nareeka Ahir, Tiffany Sarfo, Phoebe Dawes, Elin Jennings, Adele Mackay and Renee Morgan. Thank you to Namali Mackay (CMA Australia) & Dennis Gibson (CMA USA) for hosting excellent side events. And finally, thank you to our event organiser, Eileen Maes, for coordinating everything and putting together a stellar event.
Article by Eileen Maes, Communications Manager, CMA (UK)
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