The House of Commons Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee urged the UK government to create a dedicated Critical Minerals Finance Facility in a report dated 5 November 2026 and issued in London. The proposal would help strategic mining, refining and recycling projects in the UK and overseas secure public backing for development risks that can prevent projects reaching construction.
The recommended facility could provide public equity, debt, guarantees and long-term offtake support. The committee stressed that the proposal is a recommendation to government, not an established funding programme or a decision to finance any named project.
To build the facility, the committee proposed coordinating the resources and capabilities of UK Research and Innovation, British International Investment, UK Export Finance and the National Wealth Fund. It also called for specialists in mining finance to staff the body and for changes to institutional mandates.
Those mandate changes would allow public capital to take equity stakes in mining projects, support strategically important international investments and enter long-term purchase agreements or price-floor arrangements, according to the report. The committee said existing institutions are more comfortable with mature, lower-risk investments than development-stage mines and processing plants, which need substantial capital before commercial sales begin.
The committee described the facility as a move beyond grant-based research support towards underwriting some development and commercial risk. It said any arrangements involving public capital would need safeguards covering project viability, public exposure and downstream benefit.
Recycling and domestic supply
The report said the UK remains exposed to concentrated overseas mineral-processing capacity and lacks a coherent financing system for projects needed by defence, low-carbon industry and advanced technology. It also highlighted a gap in domestic recycling: 80% of metal products classified as waste in the UK are exported rather than retained for processing.
UK copper waste and scrap exports were valued at about €1.27 billion, while aluminium waste and scrap exports were worth more than €1.01 billion, the report said. Companies considering UK recycling also need to secure enough feedstock as well as install separation or refining equipment.
For wider domestic supply, the committee identified high electricity costs, insufficient geological data, slow planning and shortages in specialist engineering skills as obstacles. It recommended strategic critical-mineral clusters, with more coordinated permits, grid access and finance, alongside stronger procurement incentives to diversify supply chains.
The practical effect of the recommendations depends on ministerial acceptance, legislation, institutional capacity and budget allocation, the report said. No financial envelope, application window or project-award timetable has been established, leaving the proposal as a potential policy opening for developers rather than an immediate source of capital. Its effect on investment decisions will depend on whether the government creates a facility able to take clearly defined project risk and mobilise private financing.
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