How Cornwall’s industrial heartlands can help power modern Britain
Global supply chains are fracturing and great powers are locked in a race for critical minerals – Britain must now make the most of its own natural wealth, writes Nicola Lloyd
When South Crofty tin mine fell silent in March 1998 and the last of its working miners trudged back to their homes in the surrounding towns, it marked an end to millennia of tin and copper extraction in Cornwall.
The rich seams of metal running beneath this part of the world have defined and shaped its history, culture and communities. Evidence of tin mining has been found as far back as the Early Bronze age 3600 years ago; it’s an industry that attracted millions of pounds of investment at its peak and thrust Cornwall to the forefront of the industrial revolution, spawning inventions from the Davy Lamp to Richard Trevithick’s steam locomotive.
Now, some 30 years after South Crofty shuttered its shafts, the region’s natural wealth offers the chance to shape the future again – for Cornwall and for Britain.
A global race for critical minerals, threats to energy security and the weaponisation of global supply chains mean that backing these initiatives is not a throwback to Britain’s industrial past but an opportunity that the government and private sector must seize.
Few places in the UK or Europe hold the unique combination of assets that Cornwall does. The offshore wind resources, tidal and geothermal energy and pioneering biofuels offer a glimpse of a greener, more secure future for British power generation.
Its rich deposits of lithium, tin, tungsten and copper can provide the backbone for electric vehicles, semiconductors, renewable energy infrastructure and battery storage.
Cornwall goes global
With the UK and EU racing to secure domestic supply chains for these resources, Cornwall’s mineral wealth provides a clear strategic advantage. As the Chancellor Rachel Reeves said last year on her visit to South Crofty, these resources are essential if we’re going to become “more resilient and more secure as a nation.”
It was heartening too to see the government’s Critical Minerals Strategy, launched in Cornwall last month, has designated Cornish Lithium’s Trelavour Lithium project as ‘nationally significant’.
The UK currently produces just six per cent of the critical minerals it needs domestically. To reach a target of 10 per cent, government and the private sector must make the most of regions like Cornwall
But as that report pointed out, the UK currently produces just six per cent of the critical minerals it needs domestically. To reach a target of 10 per cent, government and the private sector must make the most of regions like Cornwall.
The government’s National Wealth Fund has already thrown its support behind this, backing the reopening of South Crofty with £28m and investing £31m to support Cornish Lithium in its mission to find a secure domestic supply of its namesake mineral. Fittingly, Cornwall’s china clay quarries are providing key sites for lithium extraction, with Imerys’ acquisition of British Lithium enabling lithium recovery from its long-established china clay operations..
Through my work establishing Global Cornish, we brought together policy makers and the global Cornish diaspora at the Houses of Parliament in December to make the case for Cornwall on the world stage as an opportunity for government and investors alike.
The response and action taken so far has been encouraging. Cornwall provides a unique opportunity to back the industries of the future at a pivotal time of growth: critical minerals, floating offshore wind, geothermal energy, advanced marine engineering and sustainable food systems.
These are themes that align directly with the government’s Industrial Strategy, net-zero commitments, supply-chain security and geopolitical resilience. As Cornwall’s industrial heartlands stir once again and miners explore the rich rock beneath its surface, investors and the government have a chance to spearhead another industrial revolution.
Nicola Lloyd is director of Global Cornish