§ 25. Mr. Wallasked the Secretary of State for Trade what percentage of the United Kingdom's mineral imports of antimony, vanadium, manganese, platinum and vermiculite come from South Africa; and what other sources of supply are available.
§ Mr. MeacherSouth Africa is the most important United Kingdom supplier of these minerals. With permission, I shall circulate in the Official Report the detailed percentages and a list of other main sources.
§ Mr. WallDoes not the hon. Gentleman agree that Western Europe is almost wholly dependent on Southern Africa for the supply of key minerals?
27 Does not this explain the Russian drive to replace Western influence throughout that area?
§ Mr. MeacherThe degree of dependence on minerals from Southern Africa varies considerably. I suspect that there
| Percentage of imports during year 1976 consigned from South Africa (by weight) | Other main sources | |
| Antimony: | ||
| Ores | Not available* | Chile, Bolivia, China, USSR and Pakistan. |
| Metal | Nil | |
| Vanadium (including metal content of pentoxide,ashes and residues and ferro-vanadium) | 30 | Finland, USSR and Chile. |
| Manganese: | ||
| Ores | 42 | USSR, Brazil, Ghana, Gabon. India and Australia. |
| Metal | 82 | |
| Ferro-manganese and ferro-silico manganese | 39 | |
| Platinum group metals: | ||
| Ores | Not available* | USSR and Canada. |
| Metal (including scrap) | 13 | |
| Vermiculite (including perlite and chlorite),unexpanded | 99 | USA. |
| * The details are not available as they would disclose confidential commercial information. |