UK Business Secretary Grant Shapps agreed, on January 11, to deepen the UK’s collaboration with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on critical minerals, demonstrating the UK government’s ambitions for building more resilient critical minerals supply chains.

He made the agreement with Saudi Arabia Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef while in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, during the Future Minerals Forum.

The partnership enables the UK and Saudi Arabia to work together on diversifying sources of critical minerals, both through Saudi investment in the UK’s manufacturing and mining finance sectors, as well as new opportunities for UK mining firms to do business in Saudi Arabia.

This is also important in ensuring the UK’s critical mineral supply chains are not overly reliant on any one country, with supplies currently dominated by China.

Saudi Arabia has a significant critical minerals resource worth about $1.3-trillion.

The UK and Saudi Arabia, which will formalise the relationship in the coming months, will work collectively on specific actions, to bring their respective strengths together.

Critical minerals such as graphite and lithium are vital to the UK’s economy and used in products ranging from laptops to aircraft; however, global markets are volatile and supply chains are at risk, leaving UK jobs and industries vulnerable to market shocks and geopolitical events.

Agreements such as the one formed between the UK and Saudi Arabia will make the UK’s supply chains more resilient, helping provide supplies to key green industries which will deliver growth and jobs.

Shapps says that critical minerals underpin the things that make everyday life and work possible, from cars to phones. “It is essential that we do all we can to ensure resilient supplies of these important resources.”

He adds that the impact of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on energy prices has shown how important international supply chains are to the UK’s economy, and why the UK can never be too reliant on any one nation. “That’s why it is so key that we work with partners like Saudi Arabia to make sure our supply chains are diverse and robust, supporting jobs and prosperity across the UK in the decades to come.”

The UK and Saudi Arabia will explore working together to open up new sources of critical mineral supply. That could mean promoting the UK’s manufacturing and mining finance sectors for Saudi investment, or exploring new opportunities for UK mining firms to do business in Saudi Arabia.

The partnership will also build on the importance of rigorous transparency and environmental standards, to reduce the risks to businesses and encourage investment.

The UK intends to use relationships such as this one to build on efforts already underway to boost standards worldwide.

The pledge builds on objectives already set out in the UK’s Critical Minerals Strategy, published in July 2022, to work at home, abroad, and through the markets to develop more robust supplies of these minerals.