The New Precious Metals: Unearthing the Treasures in Our Everyday Tech

The New Precious Metals is a 3.5-metre interactive touring exhibit from Met4Tech, the UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for a Circular Economy of Technology Metals. Visitors try to meet rising demand for metals such as lithium, tin and cobalt, either by opening new mines or by repairing, refurbishing and recycling what has already been extracted. It launched at Xplore! Science Discovery Centre in Wrexham on 15 April 2024, spent the summer at the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro, and was at the Eden Project from the autumn. Gavin was part of the Met4Tech team that produced the research underpinning the exhibit, as a Co-Investigator at the University of Birmingham, and ran a science engagement and communication workshop at the Xplore! launch.