Cornish Lithium Ltd’s founder and chief executive has joined the UK’s first Critical Minerals Expert Committee to secure technology minerals and metals for the country.
STRATEGY
Jeremy Wrathall will sit alongside a number of other industry and academic experts on the committee, established by business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
Other committee members announced include Simon Moore from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
The committee will offer independent advice to the Government on a critical minerals strategy, due to be published in 2022, as well as define a revised list of minerals.
OBJECTIVES
A statement from Cornish Lithium said that the strategy would:
– ensure the UK has a supply of critical minerals and metals and support domestic growth
– support work on international standards to strengthen the circular economy in technology-critical minerals.
– ensure supply chain resilience supports the UK’s international development priorities
– use the country’s research and development resources to build a better understanding of markets and prices to help mitigate the impact of supply shocks and demand spikes, and to enable better foresight and early intervention
– work with UK industry (including SMEs) to consider how the private and public sectors can promote investment and drive innovation at all levels
“Through this strategy, the UK government will seek to support the engagement of the UK’s mining sector in new and existing markets, facilitating investment and collaboration in extraction and processing opportunities.”
VITAL
Mr Wrathall said that the strategy would be essential for the UK to secure its supply of critical raw materials needed to become a net-zero economy.
“I will been keen to put forward the case for how the mining industry and Cornwall can assist with securing this vital part of the supply chain.”