UK to host Minerals Security Partnership for first time to boost investment in critical minerals

The UK hosted a Principals’ meeting of the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) for the first time ever in London yesterday (10 October), which focused on boosting responsible investment and sustainable finance in critical mineral supply chains.

Industry Minister Nusrat Ghani co-chaired the historic meeting of the MSP at the London Metals Exchange together with US Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Jose Fernandez yesterday afternoon.

The MSP is a group of 14 partners – representing over 50 percent of global GDP – that aims to catalyse public and private sector investment in responsible critical mineral supply chains globally.

Minister for Industry and Economic Security Nusrat Ghani said:

By 2040, the world will need four times more critical minerals than it does today. There’s a global rush towards securing these, so it is vital we secure them for the UK supply chain to support both our economy today and jobs for the future.

I was honoured to co-chair the latest Minerals Security Partnership meeting with Under Secretary Fernandez as we seek to boost investment in critical minerals and secure our supply chains for the long term.

Jose Fernandez, US Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment said:

We have to work together to ensure that wherever there is new development of critical mineral projects, there is also fairness: respect for communities and host governments, local value addition and economic development and environmental protection.

At the meeting yesterday, MSP partners confirmed that they are driving forward a range of projects which will help to develop responsible critical mineral supply chains, including:

• 11 projects in upstream mining and mineral extraction, four projects in midstream minerals processing, and two projects in recycling and recovery – including a UK-based recycling technology led by HyProMag, commercialising rare earth magnet recycling (further details below).
• One project focusing primarily on lithium; three on graphite; two on nickel; one on cobalt; one on manganese; two on copper; and seven on rare earth elements.
• Five projects in the Americas, seven projects in Africa, three projects in Europe, and two projects in Asia-Pacific.

The meeting yesterday enabled collaboration between MSP partners, governments of existing and emerging mineral economies and the private sector to accelerate more extraction, processing and recycling projects across the critical minerals value chain, while promoting high environmental, social, and governance standards and ensuring economic prosperity for all.

MSP partners participating in the meeting included Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, India, Italy, the Republic of Korea, Norway, Sweden, the UK, the USA and the EU (represented by the European Commission).

A select group of additional mineral-producing countries – including Brazil, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, South Africa and Zambia – also took part in the meeting.

About HyProMag:

• HyProMag is commercialising rare earth magnet recycling using Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap (HPMS) technology, developed at the University of Birmingham, UK, which can liberate and recycle magnets from end-of-life scrap.
• Having commissioned the UK’s first rare earth magnet recycling pilot plant at the University of Birmingham in 2022, alongside the UK’s only facility to make sintered rare earth magnets, HyProMag, together with the University of Birmingham, are developing a large-scale recycling plant at Tyseley Energy Park, Birmingham, with first production by the end of this year and supported with funding from UK Research and Innovation.
• Investment from UK-Canada listed Mkango Resources in 2020 has helped scale-up and catalyse international growth initiatives, including in Germany where HyProMag has established a sister company, HyProMag GmbH, and in the U.S. through a new Maginito-CoTec 50:50 joint venture company, with evaluation of other jurisdictions underway.  Maginito (79.4% Mkango; 20.6% CoTec) acquired HyProMag in 2023.
• In line with MSP’s commitment to recycling and reuse, the development of new sources of recycled rare earths can accelerate development of sustainable and competitive rare earth magnet production.