UK suffers blow in bid to become minerals superpower - as it's snubbed by its own leading firm

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 guara