UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre - 2026 Showcase

A special online event, highlighting the latest research in criticality assessments, supply chains and the future of digital.

Join scientists from the UK Critical Mineral Intelligence Centre (CMIC) for a live showcase of major research outputs from the last year, comprising of the copper waste and scrap flows for the UK, future of digital and the methodological progress on criticality assessments. The presentations will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the panel.

• Copper waste and scrap flows for the UK
  For the UK, waste and scrap containing copper began to be exported in increasing quantities since the early 1970s, reaching a peak in 2011 of about 460,000 tonnes of contained copper. The 2020s has seen an average of 220,000 tonnes per year being exported through scrap alone whilst imports of copper, in the form of (un)wrought (un)refined copper, alloys, ores and concentrates as well as chemicals, totalled about 17,000 tonnes per year, with unaccounted imports of copper in manufactured products. Although China used to be the major receiver of UK copper waste and scrap, the 2020s has seen this reduce and the emphasis shift to Europe and the Asia-Pacific.
  
• Future of digital
  The Future of Digital has examined the material requirements for the nexus quantum computing, artificial intelligence and data centre technologies. Beyond the requirements for elements common in electrical systems (such as Cu, Ni, Al), this work has highlighted the ever-increasing material complexity, including the potential need for elements not used widely at present (e.g. cesium, rubidium), high purity material forms (especially silicon) and isotopic purity (e.g. germanium-76, rubidium-87, helium-3).
  
• What's next for the Criticality Assessment?
  The Future of the Criticality Assessment has explored a range of new aspects and data sources which could potentially improve the way criticality is assessed for the UK. These include economic value interlinkages, market volatility, mid-stream import export expanded characterisation, environmental-social-governance (ESG) metrics, and other aspects.
  

As acknowledged in Vision 2035: The UK Critical Minerals Strategy, critical minerals underpin the UK’s economy, technology, energy transition, industrial resilience and national security. As global markets and geopolitics become more volatile and supply chains more complex, the UK must continually refine how it identifies and manages supply risks for its material needs.

This webinar will cover the recent work of CMIC to help the UK implement its critical minerals strategy, Vision 2035.