Why brownfield mining should be central to Britain’s critical minerals strategy

The UK’s need for secure and resilient mineral supply chains is growing. Critical minerals underpin advanced manufacturing, defence, clean energy, and digital infrastructure, while copper – which is now recognised by the Government as a growth mineral – will be fundamental to electrification and the expansion of Britain’s energy infrastructure.

The Government’s Vision 2035 Critical Minerals Strategy recognises this challenge. It aims for at least 10% of annual UK industrial demand for critical minerals, in aggregate, to be met through domestic production by 2035, alongside increased recycling and more diversified international supply chains.

Achieving that will require discoveries, recycling, international partnerships, and investment in processing. But Britain should also make better use of an asset it already possesses: its historic mining districts. Brownfield mining does not mean that development is straightforward. Historic projects must meet the same modern technical, economic, environmental, and planning standards as any new mine. But they can start with advantages: established geological knowledge, previous workings and infrastructure, known mineral systems, and communities with a long understanding of mining.

Parys Mountain (Mynydd Parys) on Anglesey in North Wales being redeveloped by Anglesey Mining is one example. Mining there dates back centuries, but beneath that heritage lies a modern polymetallic resource containing zinc, classified by the UK as a critical mineral, copper, now recognised as a growth mineral, alongside lead, silver, and gold. The opportunity is not simply to reopen the past. It is to determine whether a known British mineral system can be responsibly developed to modern standards and contribute metals required by the economy of the future.

Parys Mountain is not alone. Tungsten West has brought Hemerdon in Devon back into production, while Cornish Metals is advancing the redevelopment of South Crofty and projects across Cornwall, pursuing new domestic sources of tin and lithium. Government backing for Hemerdon and South Crofty is particularly significant. It demonstrates recognition that domestic mineral production can have strategic value extending beyond the economics of an individual mine.

The next step should be to turn that recognition into a coherent framework: predictable and proportionate permitting; better coordination between government and regulators; support for skills and infrastructure; access to appropriate development capital; and recognition of credible domestic mining projects within industrial policy.

None of this diminishes the importance of environmental protection or local communities. Brownfield projects sit within landscapes and communities shaped by their mining heritage. Developers therefore have a particular responsibility to demonstrate that modern mining can respect both place and people while creating long-term economic opportunity.

Britain will not produce every mineral it consumes, nor should domestic mining replace diversified international supply chains. Resilience comes from having more options. Where Britain has the geology, skills, and capability to produce more of the minerals it needs responsibly, it should do so. Our mining heritage need not simply belong to Britain’s industrial past. Properly developed, it can form part of the foundation of its industrial future.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/special-reports/01102026/why-brownfield-mining-should-be-central-to-britains-critical-minerals-strategy/