CMIC publishes assessment on critical raw materials.
Since 2022, the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) has been advising the United Kingdom on issues related to critical raw materials. This week, the Centre released an assessment of the current supply situation. The study covers a total of 82 raw materials, 34 of which are considered critical. Among these, niobium, cobalt, and rare earth elements are classified as particularly critical – essential for a wide range of applications, from energy supply to defense. Niobium is crucial for steel production, cobalt is needed for batteries, including those used in electric vehicles, and rare earth elements are used in the motors of these vehicles.
The last assessment of the UK’s raw material situation was conducted in 2021, which included 26 resources in the evaluation. The following year, the UK released its first strategy for critical minerals (we reported), which was updated in 2023.
The full study can be found here.