Britain’s hopes of becoming a critical minerals superpower have been dealt a severe blow after one of its leading companies abandoned its plans to build a rare earths refinery near Hull.
Pensana had pledged to build a £250m refinery on the banks of the Humber, to process rare earths that would have then been used to make magnets for electric cars and wind turbines.
The plant promised to create 126 jobs and was due to receive millions of pounds of government funding.
However, Sky News has learnt that Pensana has decided to scrap the Hull plant and will instead move its refining operations to the US.
Pensana’s chairman, Paul Atherley, said the company had taken the decision after the Trump administration committed to buying rare earths from an American mine, Mountain Pass, at a guaranteed price – something no government in Europe had done.
“That’s repriced the market – and Washington is looking to do more of these deals, moving at an absolute rate of knots,” he said.
“Europe and the UK have been talking about critical minerals for ages. But when the Americans do it, they go big and hard, and make it happen. We don’t; we mostly just talk about it.”
The decision comes at a crucial juncture in critical minerals and geopolitics. China produces roughly 90% of all finished rare earth metals – exotic elements essential for the manufacture of many technology, energy and military products.
Last week, Beijing imposed restrictions on the exports of rare earths, prompting Donald Trump to threaten further 100% tariffs on China.
Pensana had been seen as Britain’s answer to the periodic panics about the availability…
