The pandemic has focused Government minds on the dangers of just-in-time supply chains in recent months, industry insiders say.
A roundtable earlier this year organised by Mr Stafford included representatives from the Foreign Office, Department for International Trade, Defence and Defra.
“The penny has started to drop,” said Simon Moores, the managing director of analysts Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. “There’s understanding certainly within the EU, China and the US, that this is a fight for the future of the automotive industry, and the energy industry.”
He said “the next three months will decide” whether the UK Government has a coherent strategy ahead of the G7.
“The UK is taking its place in the queue,” said Ian Higgins, the managing director of Less Common Metals, the only rare earth magnet alloy producer outside China and Japan.
The company is being funded by the Government to investigate the potential for a UK supply chain. “The challenge we have is that the most attractive option for these people is simply to sell to China.”
The Government is reaching out to countries with which it has particularly good relations, includingAustralia, which has the only rare earths facility outside of China, as well as deposits as a byproduct of other mining industries.
The Government is also reaching out to several African countries in the Commonwealth, and has deployed its embassy in Malawi, where London-listed Mkango is developing a rare earths mine.
The company is considering the UK as the site for its processing facility, seen as crucial to keeping critical materials within the domestic supply chain.
(20min delay)