Critical minerals are essential to the UK economy, national security, and clean energy transition. Surging demand for such materials, driven by the UK ambition to become a global leader in digital technologies, will place unprecedented pressure on already vulnerable global supply chains. A (CMIC) presents both the opportunities for innovation-led economic growth and the challenges associated with securing the materials required for data centres, artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing.

Data centres are now recognised as critical national infrastructure in the UK, with more than 90 new facilities planned by 2030, while, quantum technologies and AI have been identified as strategically important technologies. Meeting increasing demand for such digital services requires a growing range of critical minerals and high-purity materials. The growth of these technologies will increase demand for critical minerals including copper, aluminium, rare earth elements and battery materials (such as lithium and cobalt) used in digital technology components and backup power systems. Quantum technologies also require some critical minerals that are more rarely discussed, including niobium, hafnium, bismuth, high-purity silicon and other raw materials such as helium.

CMIC is hosted by the 51ÁÔÆæ (BGS) and funded by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science & Technology (DBIST). This report highlights the value of data centres, AI and quantum computing to the UK economy and future economic growth and emphasises the importance of critical minerals in their development. The global trade routes that feed the UK with many of the necessary raw materials for cutting-edge technologies are still immature and underdeveloped, relying on exports from a small group of countries. Additionally, many critical minerals are only produced as by-products from the mining and refining of other commodities, such as copper and aluminium, so their production can be affected by the market swings for those major metals. Collectively, these factors can render vital supply chains unresponsive to demand and vulnerable to geopolitical factors.

The report highlights several ways to strengthen resilience, including international partnerships, supply chain diversification and targeted development of domestic capabilities. There are many opportunities for the UK, which should capitalise on its potential to mine, refine, purify and recycle some critical minerals. Nonetheless, international collaboration and strategic partnerships remain essential. In the future, digital technologies will face increasing competition for critical minerals from other sectors that we rely on for our energy, transportation, home and work lives, defence and health care, and we may need to prioritise how our critical mineral supplies are used. The report lead author, BGS Minerals geoscientist Dr Holly Elliott, believes that the need to better understand and forecast the nation mineral supply requirements has never been greater and is central to delivering the country ambitions.

“While some of the materials used in digital technologies have highly concentrated supply chains, there are also opportunities to improve resilience through innovation, international collaboration, diversification of supply and the development of specialist capabilities where the UK already has strengths.

“The UK has already invested in the development of a skilled domestic workforce and created growth zones but, to become a centre of excellence within the digital revolution, we must identify potential bottlenecks and vulnerabilities in the critical mineral supply for the decades to come, and act now.�

Dr Holly Elliott, BGS minerals geoscientist

Many of the materials required for digital technologies, such as lithium, cobalt and graphite, are experiencing significant growth in demand and intensifying competition between key sectors, including low-carbon technologies, aerospace, defence and advanced manufacturing. These are all expected to experience their own growth surges in the near future, while the wider adoption of quantum computing is currently an unknown, but likely to be a significant, factor.

Batteries sit at the heart of many of these technologies, with data centres requiring huge, grid-scale batteries to ensure an uninterruptible energy supply in the event of a disruption to mains power. The energy requirements of these facilities is considerable. Based on the findings of a , a 1 GW data centre running continuously could use as much power as up to 3.2 million UK households over the course of a year. The that the UK will need up to 6 GW of AI-capable data centre capacity by 2030, highlighting the true scale of the demand for battery raw materials.

The UK Government will increasingly face the challenge of prioritising how much of the available critical mineral supply will be directed toward the development of AI technologies and data centres while also nurturing fledgling industries such as quantum computing.

Dr Elliott says diversification will be essential to securing reliable and sustainable supplies of critical minerals.

“Whilst the UK has the potential to develop domestic supplies of certain critical minerals, it is unlikely to achieve self-reliance and cannot become a specialist in all parts of the supply chain.

“Access to global supply chains, international collaboration and strategic partnerships therefore remain vital; the opportunity best lies in collaboration and strategic partnerships to offset the risk posed by geopolitical uncertainty.�

Dr Holly Elliott

The report also highlights opportunities for the UK to build on existing strengths in semiconductor technologies, photonics, cryogenics, quantum technologies and high-purity materials. Alongside these established capabilities, opportunities will emerge to develop domestic recycling and secondary supply chains as demand for digital technologies continues to grow.

In terms of primary supply, various prospective UK projects are likely to become more economically viable with the increase in demand, such as:

• lithium resources in Cornwall
• tungsten in Devon
• graphite in Northern Ireland
• nickel, vanadium and the platinum group metals in Scotland

However, Dr Holly Elliott warns that ambition does need to be balanced against realistic understandings of how these supply chains operate.

“Geologically speaking, the Earth is not short of minerals. Scarcity is typically driven by a combination of factors, such as geopolitical access, the economic viability of extraction, and the technological constraints around our ability to refine and process them.

“History suggests that restricted supply but increasing demand creates market opportunities and that supply chains eventually catch up with demand but, in the case of minerals, this can take decades.�

Dr Holly Elliott

As such, enhanced access to global supply chains, international collaboration and strategic partnerships will be vital in the immediate future, offsetting the risk posed by geopolitical uncertainty. Over the longer term, investment that builds on the UK existing technological strengths and development of regions with domestic prospectivity can further strengthen the UK position as the demand for critical minerals intensifies.

Report recommendations

In summary the report recommendations include:

• Isotopic purification and high-purity materials: the UK can build on its strong expertise in isotopic purification to increase domestic commercial production, supporting global diversification and reducing supply risks
• Expand downstream manufacturing capabilities: broadening established industries (including cryogenics, photonics and semiconductors) from design into manufacturing could reduce the UK reliance on imported components
• Critical minerals and processing capacity: the UK should assess viable opportunities in the domestic critical mineral supply chain, including extraction and value-added processing where potential exists
• Quantum-enabling materials: developing domestic capabilities in non-linear materials and crystals would mitigate trade interventions and strengthen supply resilience
• Recycling and secondary supply: developing recycling and processing hubs for electronic waste components would help to establish a secondary supply of the materials for which the UK has limited domestic extraction potential
• Industrial support and enabling environment: there may be a role for targeted support mechanisms to encourage the development or expansion of domestic facilities for primary production, materials refining, isotopic purification and secondary material recovery
• Data, demand visibility and supply chain mapping: encouraging UK companies to report quantified material requirements for key technologies, such as data centres and batteries, would support improved modelling of future demand under different technology adoption and growth trajectories
• Workforce and skills development: further support for workforce development in emerging sectors such as quantum computing would help address shortages in specialist and technical roles spanning engineering, computer science and physics

The full report, ‘’, is available on the CMIC website.

This research was funded by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology as part of the 2025 to 2026 work programme for CMIC.

Last summer, I completed a research project in partnership with BGS and the University of Warwick. Based at BGS headquarters in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, I worked alongside the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC), gaining first-hand experience of their work and research.

My project focused on using life-cycle assessment (LCA) methods to measure the environmental impacts of a specific product. LCA is a systematic methodology to quantify and evaluate the impacts of a product, service or process throughout its life cycle, from raw material extraction to end of life. The project involved four weeks of LCA training before I conducted my own LCA on a product of my choosing, in this case the composite material carbon fibre (CF).

As a Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering undergraduate student, I have a particular interest in carbon fibre, for which the UK market is rapidly growing (4.9per cent compound annual growth rate). With its unique strength-to-weight properties, it’s an important material for innovation in industries such as aerospace, automotives and renewable energy technologies. However, as its use expands, CF recycling becomes ever more essential.

This raises a question: for a high-polymer content material such as CF, how much more environmentally beneficial is recycling over primary production? To answer this, I set out to perform an LCA on both primary production and recycling of CF, to compare and evaluate their consequences on human and environmental health. This was done by first understanding the primary production and recycling processes and then collating the input and output data from secondary sources.

Recycling performed substantially better than primary production across the majority of impact categories, showing large reductions in:

• climate change (91.5per cent)
• ozone depletion (95.5per cent)
• acidification (91.4per cent)
• particulate matter formulation (86per cent)
• water use (88.7per cent)
• ionising radiation (99.5per cent)
• land use (95.9per cent)
• energy resources (non-renewable) (90.6per cent)

The category ‘material resources’ saw a 29.7per cent gain back into the CF life cycle, due to fibre recovery, and ‘human health: carcinogenic’ performed 21.5per cent worse in recycling compared to initial production, due to the emission of benzene (a known carcinogen) during pyrolysis.

The main contributors of both processes to global warming potential (GWP) through emissions were also evaluated. CF production has a GWP of 31.2 kg CO₂ Eq, caused by:

• feedstock material (52.5per cent)
• electricity (42.8per cent)
• natural gas (4per cent)

The feedstock material evaluated in this assessment was polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibre, which is the most widely used CF. More specifically, the raw material acrylonitrile was used, which contributes 31.58per cent to the total GWP of CF production.

Recycling, on the other hand, has a GWP of 2.69 kg CO₂ Eq, contributed to mostly by:

• natural gas (85.7per cent)
• transport (8.6per cent)
• electricity (5.7per cent)

This comparison highlights the importance of recycling CFs for the health of both the environment and the global population. It also recognises areas with the most impact across both production and recycling, to explore potential improvements in future studies.

Potential improvements I have highlighted are:

• alternative bio-based feedstock materials (lignin)
• net zero energy use
• implementing bio-gas alternatives instead of natural gas
• re-using the byproducts of pyrolysis recycling as fuel back into the process
• implementing alternative recycling operations industrially, such as fluidised bed or chemical recycling

My time researching this topic at BGS has been incredibly rewarding. I have learned so much about the workplace, writing research papers, sustainability and more. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at BGS headquarters; everyone was super friendly and made me feel very welcome.

Thanks go out to Narendra Singh, Gavin Mudd, Evi Petavratzi, Maria Kariuki and the whole CMIC team at BGS for making my placement so rewarding.

Author

Phoebe Brown (undergraduate student)

Critical mineralsunderpin the UK economy, technology, energytransitionand industrial resilience. Criticality assessments are widely used to identify the commodities with the highest risk of supply disruption and associated economic impacts. The resulting lists of ‘critical minerals’ increasingly guide national and regional strategies for investment, industrial development and supply-chain resilience.

In 2024, the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC), hosted by BGS, published its updated UK Criticality Assessment, supported by an improved and more transparent methodology. This assessment used available data covering the last five to ten years and was complemented by several foresight studies on key decarbonisation technologies and the UK demand for critical raw materials up to 2050.

, released by CMIC, evaluates a series of methodological enhancements through improved quantification of economic importance, including trade restrictions and expanded considerations for environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. The report has been designed to help tailor futureUK criticality assessmentsto the structure of the UK economy, its tradeprofileand strategic industrial sectors more closely.

The report makes five recommendations that should be implemented into the next UK criticality assessment to add further value and benefit:

• better tracking of critical raw materials’ market stability and transparency
• three new indicators to improve measurement of the importance of materials to the UK economy and their flow through the whole domestic supply chain
• accounting for geopolitical risk in trade by considering any interventionist history of trading partners
• expansion of the supply-chain monitoring capacity to the midstream sector
• addition of climate vulnerability to the ESG indicator

Together, these enhancements will deliver a more comprehensive and policy-relevant understanding of criticality, particularlybyimproving the visibility of midstream supply-chain risks. Forimport-reliant nationsliketheUKthat have limited upstreamproduction,accuratetracking of intermediate and manufactured product flows is essential to understanding true supply dependencies andpoints ofintervention.

The new indicators will be rigorously tested through sensitivity analyses in the next assessment cycle, including retrospective evaluation against 2024 results.

Thisreport strengthens theUKcritically assessmentbyintegrating market dynamics, supply-chain interdependencies, geopoliticalrisksand climate vulnerabilities through multiple complementary indicators. Material flow characterisation strengthens trade-based indicators, while the integration of climate vulnerability into the ESG criteria addresses a critical gap with minimal methodological disruption.Corporate concentrationand production forecasting were also evaluated and deemed tooffer the best valuefor targeted,deep-diveanalysesand potential stress-testing of industry supply chains,but data limitationsprevent systematic application in criticality assessments.

Theresult is a moregranular, evidence-basedunderstanding of howdifferent materialsexhibit criticality,whetherthroughmarket opacity, supply-chain centrality, geopolitical concentration, orclimate exposure,enabling tailored intervention strategies matched to specific material risk profiles rather than one-size-fits-all approaches.

Dr Pierre Josso, deputy director of CMIC.

The Mineral Exploration and Investment Grants Act 1972 (MEIGA) provided a stimulus for mineral exploration in the UK. Under the Act, the Government’s Department of Trade and Industry gave grants for mineral exploration for non-ferrous metals, fluorspar, barium minerals and potash. Compiled largely during the 1970s and 1980s, reports detailing the exploration undertaken contain a rich variety of information, including geological mapping, soil and stream sediment geochemistry, geophysical surveys, drillcore logs and assay data.

Previously, these ‘MEIGA’ reports were only available to view in hard copy through BGS National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC). In 2023, a digitisation programme, carried out in collaboration with the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC), released an initial batch of over 200 . A further release of digitised reports this year (2026) has meant that an additional 660 reports have been added to the accessible collection, ensuring that data collected over forty years ago is openly available and newly relevant for identifying critical and precious metal resource potential within the UK.

The significance of this release is already being demonstrated in the Ardlochan area of south-west Scotland. At the end of 2025, completed a in the area, which discovered a large, vertical tube of broken rock (a ‘breccia pipe’ system) that was at least 140 m wide and rich in gold. The company then drew on MEIGA materials, originally generated by exploration companies Noranda Mining Limited and Phelps Dodge in the 1970s and 1980s, to complement its own surveys and recent drilling in order to target other sites of interest.

The MEIGA dataset for Ardlochan is already playing a key role in refining a new generation of exploration targets, especially those associated with gold-rich porphyry–breccia systems. A major advantage of the datasets is that they capture Ardlochan at a time when the area was largely unforested. This allowed for far more detailed bedrock mapping than is possible today and provides a clearer geological framework from which to work.

Just as importantly, the reports offer insight into the exploration concepts and decision making used by major operators in the 1970s and 1980s. These companies invested heavily in systematic regional work, identifying features and prospects that were subsequently forgotten as corporate priorities shifted. Integrating these historic insights with modern techniques is enabling us to rebuild the geological story of Ardlochan and accelerate target development with a level of confidence that would not otherwise be possible.

Calum Lyell, Western Gold Exploration.

Exploration can be very expensive and uncertain, often requiring companies to repeat baseline surveys to establish context. By providing open access to MEIGA reports, BGS (through CMIC and the NGDC) is helping to reduce duplicate efforts, enabling more targeted investment. For smaller firms, this pre-competitive data supports innovation and lowers barriers to entry.

The digitisation of BGS archive documents is a major effort in valorising legacy datasets that can have a major impact at minimal cost for the exploration sector. We are continuously working towards refining accessibility to these documents, notably applying various machine learning methods to automate the extraction of data contained in these pages to make them publicly available, as well as developing large language models for personalised, one-to-one interaction with the archived volumes.

Pierre Josso, deputy director, CMIC.

For the National Geoscience Data Centre, the renewed impact of the MEIGA archive demonstrates exactly why long‑term stewardship of geoscience data matters. Historic materials only realise their full value when they are preserved, digitised and made accessible. Funding the systematic scanning of these legacy collections is essential not only to safeguard the record, but also to ensure that insights captured decades ago can actively inform modern exploration, reduce duplication of effort and unlock new scientific and economic opportunities. The success at Ardlochan shows that well‑curated archives don’t just tell the story of past work; they directly enable the discoveries of today.

Alison Steven, data operations and governance lead, NGDC at BGS.

Demand for critical minerals is rapidly increasing in response to the global transition to net zero, with UK demand for lithium predicted to quadruple by 2050. To secure future supply, the UK has set ambitious recycling targets for critical minerals.

New analysis from the , hosted by the 51ÁÔÆæ (BGS), provides a detailed assessment of the UK future demand and secondary supply availability for the key technology metals that are required for green energy technologies and electric transportation.

By 2035, the Government aims to meet 20 per cent of annual critical mineral demand through , also known as secondary supply or the circular economy. However, the new research also highlights that, within this timeframe, only a small number of critical minerals used in photovoltaic technologies are expected to be found in sufficient quantities to theoretically reach or exceed this ambition. The prospects improve dramatically, however, when the timescale is extended out to 2050, as increasing availability of end-of-life material is forecast to meet or exceed domestic demand for several critical minerals.

The assessment found that, between 2040 and 2050, ‘secondary’ raw material availability could provide:

• more than 60 per cent of the cumulative demand for battery metals
• more than 85 per cent of the cumulative demand for the rare earth elements (REEs) used in magnets (neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium)
• more than 90 per cent of the cumulative demand for silver and 75 per cent for tin used in photovoltaics (solar panels)

Although secondary supply has the potential to offset primary demand after 2040, the rapid growth of electric vehicles, wind turbines and photovoltaics means that, in the short term, primary supply (that is extracted directly from the ground) will remain essential to meet growth sectors, fill supply gaps and account for unavoidable material losses or non-recovery. This includes continued reliance on imports of lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper and REEs, and highlights the importance of supply chain diversification, responsible sourcing and strategic international partnerships. 

The report highlights that investment, capacity building, development of reverse supply chains and further data supporting the circular economy will be required to support the UK transition toward secure, resilient supplies of critical minerals and technology metals and to realise the long-term supply potential available through recovery and recycling.

This studydemonstratesthat secondary supply of technology metals has the potential to become amajor contributor to UK material security. Our research shows that several elements will approach or exceed anticipated domesticdemandbymid-century.

However, realising this potential will depend on several factors, including clear policy direction on technology metals recovery, investment in recycling and refining infrastructure and the development of integrated reverse supply chains and skilled labour.

Primary supply will remain essential but, withtimelyand coordinated action, the UK can build a more resilient,circularand securecritical materialssystem capable of supporting its2050net zeroambitions.

Dr Evi Petavratzi, principal mineral commodity expert at BGS.

The report ‘’ is available to download from the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre website.

Ukraine and the UK have reaffirmed their strategic partnership with the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on geological science and resource development. The agreement underscores a shared commitment to Ukraine long-term economic recovery while deepening bilateral ties. Amid increasing global demand for critical minerals essential for technologies such as renewable energy systems, batteries and electronics, it also signals a growing focus on the role of natural resources in strengthening economic resilience and energy security.

The MoU focuses on expanding collaboration between the geological surveys of both the UK and Ukraine in areas such as digital transformation, research and institutional capacity strengthening. By enhancing cooperation across these areas, both countries aim to improve their understanding of geological resources while fostering more effective and modern approaches to managing them.

The MoU also coincides with the presentation of Ukraine new Critical Minerals Strategy, which the UK helped to develop, further demonstrating its commitment to Ukraine long-term economic and industrial future.

The MoU represents far more than a formal partnership. At a time when global challenges demand collective action, the strengthening of scientific and technical ties between our institutions is both timely and essential. This agreement reflects our shared belief that science can be a powerful bridge between countries and our shared commitment to not only scientific excellence but also growth, resilience and long-term prosperity.

Dr Maggy Heintz, director of BGS International Geoscience

Since 1913, BGS and its predecessor organisations have complied annual production and trade statistics on a wide range of mineral commodities. In the latest volume, World Mineral Production 2020–2024, BGS sets out the production figures by country for more than 70 mineral commodities over the five-year period from 2020 to 2024. The new volume also includes a ‘treemap’ visualisation for the first time, showing the global quantity of metals and ores produced in 2024.

Summary and trends

In 2024, conflict and political and civil unrest in several regions of the world continued, making it challenging to obtain mineral production data for some countries. China introduction of new export restrictions also limited the global availability of certain commodities, including antimony, bismuth, gallium, germanium, indium, molybdenum, tellurium and tungsten.

During 2024 several commodities experienced a significant decrease in their production volume:

• mercury production has been decreasing for a number of years: although China is still the largest single producer, its output has decreased, and Mexico has reduced its mercury production by 95 per cent over five years
• antimony, which is widely used as a fire retardant in plastics and textiles and is crucial for batteries, semiconductors and solar panels, saw its production decline by 16 per cent over the past five years and by almost 11 per cent in 2024 compared to 2023
• global production of tungsten, which is vital in creating ultra-hard tungsten carbide for cutting tools, drills and wear-resistant machinery, decreased by eight per cent in 2024 and by 12 per cent during the last five years

Despite this, production of a few commodities increased globally between 2020 and 2024:

• production of those minerals vital for batteries and energy storage systems, including cobalt, nickel and lithium, all increased in 2024, while lithium production has increased by 208 per cent, cobalt mine production by 103 per cent and mined nickel by 53 per cent over the last five years
• chromium, which is essential for the stainless steel industry, saw production increase globally by 15 per cent in 2024 and by 42 per cent over the past five years
• uranium production has responded to more favourable market conditions and increased demand for nuclear energy, with production increasing globally by 13 per cent in 2024 and by 29 per cent over the past five years

International interest

International interest in the security of supply of minerals continues to grow. Since its launch in 2022, the (CMIC), hosted by BGS, continues to guide decision making and research on critical raw materials, with increasing focus on those required for the clean energy transition. CMIC has also produced a number of notable publications, including the and .

Previous volumes

 can be found on the Minerals UK website. The information is compiled from a wide range of sources including government departments, national statistical offices, specialist commodity authorities, company reports and a network of contacts throughout the world.

Contact

For more information please contact Naomi Idoine.

Critical minerals are central to modern society and the global transition to cleaner energy systems. These minerals include the rare earth elements, which are essential for electric motors and wind turbines, as well as those that underpin battery technologies such as lithium, graphite, cobalt and nickel. As demand grows, countries worldwide are seeking to better understand the distribution, quality and economic potential of their geological resources, particularly in under-explored regions.

Across the African continent, geological survey organisations (GSOs) play vital, national roles in gathering, managing and interpreting geological and mineral data. The availability of such data supports good governance, sustainable development and transparent decision making, so strengthening this capability is essential to enabling countries to fully benefit from their natural resources.

For the past three years, BGS has been working in partnership with the Geological Survey Department of Zambia (GSD) to advance their understanding of the country natural resources. Together, we are making better use of Zambia existing geological data to improve national understanding of key metals and minerals such as copper, graphite, lithium and cobalt. This collaboration is grounded in shared priorities: building national capacity, improving data accessibility and supporting long-term, sustainable development.

How GSD is supporting the Zambian government critical minerals ambitions

A dedicated team of GSD geologists has been working with BGS specialists to strengthen Zambia national capability in critical minerals. This began with the development and publication of the guide, a national reference designed to support government planning and industry engagement. Building on this guide, GSD and BGS are now working on a new, national-scale critical mineral occurrence map. Focusing on Zambia eleven designated critical minerals, the map integrates the country most up-to-date geological information, mineral occurrences, verified deposits and operational mining and processing facilities. Built from high-quality, GIS-ready datasets, updated infrastructure data and insights from recent joint field campaigns, the map represents the most detailed digital geological dataset currently available for national planning and investment promotion.

Both the guide and draft map were formally launched on 25 February 2026 and received strong support from Zambia mineral exploration sector, government ministries and academia, reflecting widespread recognition of the importance of the map and guide to Zambia mineral strategy, helping to build confidence in the sector.

Partnerships for the future

As global demand for critical minerals grows, the role of GSOs and the partnerships between them will only become more important. Such partnerships strengthen national capability by combining technical expertise, modern data practices and long-term capacity building. GSOs and the data they manage provide the authoritative, long-term scientific evidence needed to understand a country resources, support safe and sustainable development and guide informed decision making across government, industry and society.