DAI to Host Roundtable on U.K. Role in Critical Minerals Race

June 20, 2025

On July 10, DAI and the MSA Group—an independent technical consultancy in the mining sector—will host a timely discussion on how the U.K. Government can strengthen its approach to critical mineral supply chain resilience amidst rising geopolitical pressures and the clean energy transition.

Photo: MSA Group

The Rt Hon. the Baroness Northover, a former Department for International Development Minister and current Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Critical Minerals, will lead off the event, followed by two distinguished panels and an open discussion following Chatham House Rules to ensure a full airing of the issues.

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Access to secure, sustainable, and ethically sourced critical minerals is a growing strategic priority for the United Kingdom. The clean energy transition, increasing geopolitical competition, and recent export controls enacted by China have highlighted vulnerabilities in global supply chains for materials such as lithium, cobalt, graphite, and rare earth elements.

Britain’s Critical Minerals Strategy offers a framework for meeting this challenge, but implementing it will require a deeper alignment between policy, international partnerships, private investment, and official development assistance (ODA). This in-person-only event seeks to explore how government can enable progress across these related areas while balancing commercial realities and national interest.

“This event aims to shed light on the U.K.’s strategic options,” said DAI Vice President Ben Le Roith. “We particularly want to explore how U.K. policy can support resilient and sustainable supply chains in developing countries, identify tools to de-risk private sector investment in fragile environments, and encourage public and private stakeholder dialogue to ensure an increasingly coherent policy moving forward.”

Following Baroness Northover’s remarks, the first panel, “Strategic Autonomy and China’s Dominance,” will ask how Britain can reduce its dependency on China across the critical minerals value chain. The second, “Government as Enabler: Policy, Investment, and Global Partnerships,” will focus on the U.K. Government’s role in unlocking sustainable investment, leveraging ODA, and supporting producer countries. Featured panellists are listed below.

The in-person event is scheduled for 9:00 am to 12:00 pm on 10 July at DAI’s offices in Holborn (1 Smart’s Place, London WC2B 5LW).

Panel 1

• Belinda Schaepe, expert on Chinese climate and energy policy, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air
• Jiayi Zhou, China expert, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
• Henry Sanderson, market expert, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
• Michal Meidan, Head of China Energy Research, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies
• Ros Lund, Independent Mining Consultant

Panel 2

• Ian Haddon, CEO, MSA Group
• Jeremy Wrathall, CEO of Cornish Lithium
• Oliver Richards, Head of Critical Minerals and Mining, Department for Business and Trade