No mining, no sovereignty for Wales

Simon Hobson, Senior mining engineer and co-founder of New Wales

Canada has just taken a bold step that Wales should study closely.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first federal budget commits billions to develop a homegrown critical minerals sector: from mining, to refining, to stockpiling. Why? For national security.

Canada understands a truth too many in Wales ignore: a modern nation that doesn’t control the origin of its industrial minerals does not control its own future.

In Wales, even mentioning mining sparks knee-jerk outrage from people. Most of whom have never spent a minute thinking about from where the minerals in their phones, laptops, cars, wind turbines or medical devices come. Some even boast that they ‘hate mining’ as if it is a moral act, while enjoying every comfort it provides. That is not environmentalism. It is moral posturing built on someone else’s suffering.

The realities of our physical world

I write this not only as a mining engineer, but as someone who has been a conservationist since childhood. I love Wales’ landscapes and wildlife. But real environmentalism requires honesty, not fantasy. The truth is simple: everything in modern life depends on mining, including the technologies that will help Wales fight climate change.

If you demand a modern, green Wales but reject mining here, then you are demanding that poorer nations mine for you instead. You are saying: ‘let the Congolese child, the Indonesian forest and the Bolivian salar pay the price, but don’t you dare mine responsibly in Wales’. That hypocrisy must end.

Sovereignty means owning the resources that power our lives

Canada’s new $2 billion Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund is built on one principle: wealthy nations must take responsibility for their own resources. Canada knows that autonomy requires resource ownership. Wales needs that mindset too.

There are signs of change. The potential reopening of Mynydd Parys mine on Anglesey has raised hopes of new jobs and renewed economic life. Copper and zinc could once again support local communities.

But Wales still lacks a national strategy. We hold devolved powers over mining and mineral extraction. We should use them. Wales sits on critical minerals the world is competing for: copper, gold, silver, tin, zinc, lithium, rare earths and phosphates. These are not relics of the coal age. They are the building blocks of Wales’ future economy.

If Wales is serious about independence, then we must act like a nation preparing for it. That requires a coherent industrial plan and control of our own strategic resources. Otherwise, independence is reduced to a sticker on a road sign.

Modern mining is not the coal era

Opponents of mining still picture slag heaps, black rivers and environmental ruin. This is as outdated as thinking hospitals still use leeches. Modern mining in democracies is tightly regulated. Mine sites are monitored for biodiversity, water, noise and community impact. Land is restored as operations evolve. Publicly listed companies must meet strict ESG, community, Indigenous rights and climate standards. If they fail, they lose their social and financial licence to operate.

Wales can mine cleanly and with community involvement. We can require biodiversity gain, not loss. We can rewild post-mine landscapes. Done well, a mine can leave nature better than before.

Not mining is not the ethical choice

Offshore wind turbines often need over thirty tonnes of copper. An electric car uses around six times more minerals in its fabrication than a petrol one. Fertilisers that feed Wales start as mined phosphate. If Wales refuses to mine, mining doesn’t stop, it shifts to nations with weaker environmental rules and poor worker protections.

If you care about climate, fairness and global justice, then mining our own minerals responsibly is not the problem it is the solution.

A sovereign wealth fund built on Welsh minerals

Norway used its oil to build a £1.2 trillion sovereign wealth fund for future generations. As part of the United Kingdom, Scotland watched its oil wealth flow to London and into corporate dividends. Wales now faces a similar choice with minerals.

A Welsh Critical Minerals Fund could:

• co-invest with private companies in Welsh mining and processing,
• gain equity stakes in those private firms
• retain profits for a Welsh sovereign wealth fund
• create well-paid jobs in our communities: keeping homegrown talent and attracting educated workers to Wales
• fund nature restoration, rewilding and community benefit for decades

Why should the wealth beneath our feet continue to be ignored?

Wales must stop saying ‘someone else should do it’

We can keep pretending that a ‘green Wales’ means never touching our land, while importing minerals ripped from the earth abroad. Or we can grow up. Responsible Welsh mining is the ethical, environmental and sovereign choice. It lets us set high standards, protect nature, benefit communities and build our future.

Wales does not need to repeat the past. But we do need to rediscover our nerve. If we want a green, fair and prosperous Wales, we must stop expecting others to do our mining for us. We can do it here. We can do it cleaner. And we can own the wealth.