Will Rare Earth Processing Become An Election Issue?

The surprise announcement of the general election months sooner than anticipated has caught many people on the hop, not least various industries who will be seeking to lobby politicians from different sides over matters of interest to them while the question of who governs Britain is up for grabs.

However, while there will be many trying to catch the ear of ministers (or potential future ministers), certain perennial topics will inevitably grab the most attention from the media, the public and indeed the politicians themselves as they make various policy announcements.

But while the NHS, pensions, defence, the economy and climate change will be among the topics getting a lot of air time, the rather more esoteric issue of the processing of rare earth minerals is still something that should be given attention, at least to the extent that the processing industry has some idea what the direction of policy might be.

Why Rare Earths Matter

Those familiar with the topic will know why this matters, as the use of minerals like Lithium is vital for the future green economy, so it impacts these issues at a very deep level.

Since lithium-ion batteries are used in electric cars, which will gradually replace petrol and diesel vehicles over the next 15-20 years, (as well as mobile phones and laptops), their importance is bound to be increasingly noticed by the public, whether or not it gets much focus now.

However, with Britain on the cusp of developing its own lithium sector, this is an area where the detail of environmental policy matters. While the Conservative government has rowed back on previous ‘net zero’ commitments, Labour has dropped its £28 billion green investment plan. This leaves many questions about party policies on these issues.

How much and how far they will go in backing the use of rare earths to make possible the development of the UK as a powerhouse in the processing sector, be it for working on imported materials or those sourced domestically, is one of the specifics many will hope to see fleshed out in manifestos.

The Legacy For The Next Parliament

The state of play is promising. During the coming parliament the first two lithium processing plants, run by Tees Valley Lithium and Green Lithium respectively, will be completed and ready to begin work, collectively meeting nearly a third of Europe’s lithium needs by 2030.

While most of the material they process will be imported, there is the prospect that some will soon come from domestic sources just up the road in the upper Wear Valley, where Weardale Lithium has put in a planning application to establish a plant that could eventually extract 10,000 tonnes of lithium every year.

Cornwall is the other area where lithium exists in large quantities and companies are seeking to extract it, all of which impacts not only on environmental issues, but the local economy and employment too. That means these areas could see plenty of local focus on this issue, even if they receive less talk at the national level.

Government backing is important for Britain’s rare earths industry to grow. The current administration published its first Critical Minerals Strategy in 2022, with its provisions including a pledge to “accelerate growth of the UK’s domestic capabilities”.

Following this, the government published a further document last year titled ‘Critical Minerals Refresh: Delivering Resilience in a Changing Global Environment’.

This highlighted the extra importance of securing supplies of rare earth minerals at a time of growing geopolitical strain, when the risk of countries like China and Russia dominating energy resources has become increasingly evident. China, in particular, has been dominant in global lithium processing, something the forthcoming UK plants will help change.

What Comes Next?

It is clear, therefore, that this is an issue that has received much attention from the government over the past couple of years. At the same time, since 2022 was the first Critical Minerals Strategy to be published, it is reasonable to expect that it will be updated regularly.

Given the importance of this for economic, energy, industrial and foreign policy, it is therefore a given that when the general election is a fading memory, whoever is in government will be working on the further development of this strategy.

This topic may indeed gain less attention than some of the eye-catching controversies that will fill the airwaves and feature heavily in debates, not to mention on the doorsteps. It will assuredly get more attention in the trade press than the tabloids. But it is an issue on which the parties can make some clear statements of intent.