This footage was filmed and produced 12 September 2023.

Lord Dominic Johnson, Minister for business and trade, has described a major investor conference in Northern Ireland this week as an opportunity to showcase the region.

A Belfast-based firm has been announced as the largest recipient in the first phase of a £15 million Government fund, which it will use to scale up production of the rare earths needed to manufacture renewable energy technologies.

The investment will also assist Ionic Technologies to create up to 100 new jobs.

Mr Johnson, the UK’s investment minister, who is in Belfast for a major investment summit, officially opened the company’s Belfast demonstration plant on Tuesday and spoke to media during a visit to Ionic Technologies in Belfast on Tuesday.

The funding is earmarked for research to strengthen domestic supply chains of critical materials to drive the UK’s net-zero transition and green transport.

The company said the investment will help it become one of the UK’s foremost innovators in magnet recycling and domestic producers of 100% recycled rare earth oxides.

Acquired in 2022 by Australian multinational Ionic Rare Earths Ltd, the company – a Queen’s University Belfast spinout – aims to scale up production through development of a commercial-scale plant.