Onshore mineral resource maps
MineralsUK – Planning
Minerals are essential for the development of a modern economy, but their extraction is subject to environmental and other constraints. Bringing together minerals, environmental and other land-use information in an integrated system allows more effective and sustainable management strategies to be developed.
- mineral resource maps in England and parts of South Wales
- mineral resource maps in Northern Ireland
- mineral resource maps in Scotland
- mineral resource maps in Wales
- aggregates safeguarding maps in Wales
Mineral resource maps in England and parts of South Wales
The BGS was commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), through the research project ‘Mineral resource information in support of national, regional and local planning’, to prepare a series of ‘county’ mineral resource maps. This work was completed in early 2006 and a series of digitally generated maps at a scale of 1:100 000 are available. These maps cover 44 administrative areas or groups of administrative areas, giving information for the whole of England and parts of South Wales.
Four major elements of information are presented on the summary maps:
- the geological distribution of all onshore mineral resources
- the location of mineral extraction sites
- the extent of mineral planning permissions and licences for coal extraction
- the extent of selected landscape and nature-conservation designations (National Parks, AONBs, SSSIs, NNRs and scheduled monuments)
A primary objective was to produce baseline data in a consistent format that can be updated, revised and customised to suit planning needs, including for use in the preparation of mineral development plan documents and regional spatial strategies.
All the data on the ‘county maps’ has been merged to produce an online minerals information GIS for each English region. The maps and associated reports can be downloaded:
| Region | County | Product(s) | Published | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | Derbyshire | | | 1995 | WF/95/3 |
| East Midlands | Leicestershire, City of Leicester and Rutland | | | 2002 | CR/02/24/N |
| East Midlands | Lincolnshire | | | 2003 | CR/02/128N |
| East Midlands | Northamptonshire | | | 2000 | WF/00/4 |
| East Midlands | Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham | | | 2002 | CR/02/23/N |
| East Midlands | Peak District National Park | | | 1995 | WF/95/4 |
| County | Products | Date published | Reference number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedfordshire | 1995 | WF/95/2 | |
| Cambridgeshire (comprising Cambridgeshire and the City of Peterborough) | 2003 | CR/02/131N | |
| Essex (comprising Essex, Southend-on-Sea, Thurrock, London Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge and Waltham Forest) | 2002 | CR/02/127N | |
| Hertfordshire and north-west London boroughs | 2003 | CR/03/075/N | |
| Norfolk | 2004 | CR/03/174N | |
| Suffolk | 2003 | CR/03/076N |
| County | Products | Date published |
|---|---|---|
| London boroughs | 2003 |
| County | Products | Date published | Reference number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durham and Tees Valley | 2000 | WF/00/6 | |
| Northumberland and Tyne and Wear | Two maps: |
2000 | WF/00/5 |
| County | Products | Date published | Reference number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheshire (comprising Cheshire, Boroughs of Halton and Warrington) | 2006 | CR/05/090N | |
| Cumbria and Lake District | Three maps: – Other resources | 2001 | WF/01/02 |
| Greater Manchester (comprising Cities of Manchester and Salford and Metropolitan Boroughs of Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan) | 2006 | CR/05/182N | |
| Lancashire (comprising Lancashire and Boroughs of Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen) | 2006 | CR/05/144N | |
| Merseyside (comprising City of Liverpool and Boroughs of Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral) | 2005 | CR/05/129N |
| County | Products | Date published | Reference number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berkshire (comprising West Berkshire, Reading, Wokingham, Windsor and Maidenhead, Bracknell Forest and Slough) | 2004 | CR/03/074N | |
| Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes | 2004 | CR/03/77N | |
| East Sussex (comprising Brighton & Hove and East Sussex) | 2002 | CR/02/126N | |
| Hampshire (comprising Hampshire, City of Portsmouth and City of Southampton) | 2003 | CR/02/129N | |
| Isle of Wight | 2002 | CR/02/130N | |
| Kent (comprising Kent, Medway and London Boroughs of Bexley and Bromley) | 2003 | CR/02/125N | |
| Oxfordshire | 2004 | CR/04/62N | |
| Surrey (comprising Surrey and the London Boroughs of Croydon, Hounslow, Kingston upon Thames, Richmond upon Thames and Sutton) | 2003 | CR/03/073N | |
| West Sussex | 1998 | WF/98/5 |
| County | Products | Date published | Reference number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cornwall | 1997 | WF/97/11 | |
| Devon (comprising Devon, Plymouth, Torbay, Dartmoor National Park and part of Exmoor National Park) | Two maps: |
2006 | CR/05/096N |
| Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole | 2001 | WF/01/01 | |
| Gloucestershire (comprising Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire) | 2006 | CR/05/105N | |
| Somerset (comprising Somerset, North Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset, the City of Bristol, and part of Exmoor National Park) | 2005 | CR/04/214N | |
| Wiltshire (comprising Wiltshire and the Borough of Swindon) | 2004 | CR/04/049N |
| County | Products | Date published | Reference number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Herefordshire and Worcestershire | 1999 | WF/99/4 | |
| Shropshire | Two maps: | 1998 | WF/98/6 |
| Staffordshire | Two maps: | 1995 | WF/95/5 |
| Warwickshire | 1999 | WF/99/2 | |
| West Midlands | 1999 | WF/99/3 |
| County | Products | Date published | Reference number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humberside (comprising East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire and City of Kingston upon Hull) | 2005 | CR/04/227N | |
| North Yorkshire (comprising North Yorkshire, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors National Parks and City of York) | Two maps: | 2006 | CR/04/228N |
| South Yorkshire (comprising Metropolitan Boroughs of Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham and City of Sheffield) | 2006 | CR/04/173N | |
| West Yorkshire (comprising Metropolitan Boroughs of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield and City of Leeds) | 2006 | CR/04/172N |
| Region | Product(s) | Published | Reference |
| Mineral resource information for development plans : phase one : South Wales : resources and constraints
|
|
1997 | WF/97/010 |
Mineral resource maps in Northern Ireland
Following a commission from the Department of the Environment, BGS and its counterpart the (GSNI) produced a mineral resources map of Northern Ireland. The map is intended to assist strategic decision making in respect of mineral extraction and the protection of important mineral resources against sterilisation. Six digitally generated maps at a scale of 1:100 000 scale are now available:
Mineral resource maps in Scotland
51 was awarded a grant from the Scottish Government Aggregates Levy Fund in 2007 to provide a comprehensive, relevant and accessible information base to enhance the sustainability of mineral resources for 18 local authorities in the central belt of Scotland. BGS co-funded this project through its Sustainable Mineral Solutions project. This work was completed in March 2008. A and a series of found digitally generated maps at a scale of 1:100 000 are available:
Mineral resource maps in Wales
51 was awarded a grant from the Welsh Government-administered Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund for Wales in 2009 to provide a comprehensive, relevant and accessible information base to enhance the sustainability of mineral resources in Wales. BGS co-funded this project through its Sustainable Mineral Solutions team, part of the Minerals and Waste science programme. This work, which was led from the BGS Cardiff office, was completed in July 2010. The and a series of six digitally generated maps at a scale of 1:100 000 are now available:
Aggregates safeguarding maps in Wales
As mineral resources are finite and not evenly distributed, knowledge about their whereabouts is essential for making effective and sustainable planning decisions that consider the needs of future generations. Access to mineral resources can be prevented or restricted (sterilised) by non-mineral development and the process of ‘mineral safeguarding’ ensures that this does not occur unnecessarily when planning applications are determined. An effective safeguarding system requires the adoption of ‘mineral safeguarding areas’ and the adoption of suitable policies through which development is managed in these areas.
The aggregates safeguarding maps have been compiled to assist mineral planning authorities (MPAs) in the delineation of aggregates safeguarding areas in local development plans. The and a series of six digitally generated maps at a scale of 1:100 000 are now available:
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Legislation and policy
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