European REE resources: alkaline magmatism and beyond

Europe has resources of many of the critical metals, pa rticularly the rare earth el ements (REE); yet economic, environmental and accessibility issues have combined to slow progress toward the explo itation of these resources. The EURARE project, funded by the EU’s Seventh Framework programme, brings together a number of partners from across Europe to assess Europe’s REE resources and to se t the basis for an European REE industry. This talk will describe new research on some of the wide range of potential REE resources within Europe and showcase the diversity of resources available

CHPM (Combined Heat, Power and Metal extraction) 2030 deliverable (D1.2): report on data availability for south-west England

This report is a published product of the ‘CHPM2030’ project - an EC - funded, Horizon2020 project which aims to develop a novel and potentially disruptive techn ology solution that can help satisfy the European needs for energy and strategic metals in a single interlinked process. Working at the frontiers of geothermal resources development, minerals extraction and electro - metallurgy, the project aims at convertin g ultra - deep metallic mineral formations into ‘orebody - engineered geothermal systems’ that will serve as a basis for the development of a new type of facility for ‘Combined Heat, Power and Metal extraction’ (CHPM). The project will help provide new impetus to geothermal development in Europe by investigating previously unexplored pathways at low - TRL. This will be achieved by developing a roadmap in support of the pilot implementation of such system before 2025, and full - scale commercial implementation befor e 2030. This will include detailed specifications of a new type of future engineered geothermal system (EGS) facility that is designed and operated from the very beginning as a combined heat, power and metal extraction system. In the technology envisioned , the metal - bearing geological formation will be manipulated in a way that the co - production of thermal energy and metals will be possible. As part of this, we will investigate how fluid chemical conditions can be optimised to facilitate recovery of specif ic metals, anticipating variable market demands at any given moment in the future. Four geographical areas have been chosen for detailed investigation based on pre - existing data and potential for CHPM development in mineralised areas in the United Kingdom (UK), Portugal, Romania and Sweden. This report summarises information relevant to the investigation area in the UK. The project aims to provide proof - of - concept for the following hypotheses: 1. The composition and structure of orebodies have certain advanta ges that could be used to our advantage when developing an EGS; 2. Metals can be leached from the orebodies in high concentrations over a prolonged period of time and may substantially influence the economics of EGS; 3. The continuous leaching of metals will increase system’s performance over time in a controlled way and without having to use high - pressure reservoir stimulation, minimizing potential detrimental impacts of both heat and metal extraction

World Mineral Production 2012-16

The latest edition of this annual publication from the British Geological Survey (BGS) is now available to download. This volume contains mineral production statistics for the five year period from 2012 to 2016, for more than 70 mineral commodities, by country worldwide. Additional tables containing European production of aggregates and cement are included as an Appendix. It is the latest publication from the World Mineral Statistics dataset which began in 1913. The information contained in the dataset, and associated publications, is compiled from a wide range of sources: home and overseas government departments, national statistical offices, specialist commodity authorities, company reports, and a network of contacts throughout the world

A review of the mineral potential of Liberia

The Republic of Liberia in West Africa is underlain mostly by Precambrian rocks of Archaean (Liberian) age in the west and of Proterozoic (Eburnean) age in the east. By analogy with similar terranes elsewhere in the world, and in West Africa in particular, the geology of Liberia is favourable for the occurrence of deposits of a wide range of metals and industrial minerals, including gold, iron ore, diamonds, base metals, bauxite, manganese, fluorspar, kyanite and phosphate. Known gold deposits, mostly orogenic in style, occur widely and are commonly associated with north-east-trending regional shear zones. Gold mining commenced at the New Liberty deposit in western Liberia in 2015, while significant gold resources have also been identified at several other sites in both Archaean and Proterozoic terranes. Liberia has large resources of itabirite-type iron ores, most of which are located in the Liberian terrane, and was the largest producer in Africa prior to the onset of civil war in 1989. Production of iron ore is currently restricted to a single mine, Yekepa, in the Nimba Range. Other important deposits, some of them previously mined, include Bong, the Western Cluster, Putu and Goe Fantro. There is a long history of alluvial diamond production in western and central Liberia, together with more than 160 known occurrences of kimberlite. Most of the known kimberlites occur in three clusters of small pipes and abundant dykes, located at Kumgbor, Mano Godua and Weasua, close to the border with Sierra Leone. Many of these are considered to be part of a single province that includes Jurassic age diamondiferous kimberlites in Sierra Leone and Guinea. Deposits and occurrences of a wide range of other metals and industrial minerals are also known. Several of these have been worked on a small scale in the past, mainly by artisanal miners, but most are poorly known in detail with sub-surface information available at only a few localities. By comparison with most other countries in West Africa, the geology of Liberia is poorly known and there has been very little systematic exploration carried out for most commodities other than gold, iron ore and diamonds since the 1960s and 1970s. Further detailed field and laboratory investigations using modern techniques are required to properly evaluate the potential for the occurrence of economic deposits of many minerals and metals in a variety of geological settings. Digital geological, geochemical, geophysical and mineral occurrence datasets, including new national airborne geophysical survey data, provide a sound basis for the identification of new exploration targets, but in almost every part of the country there is a need for new and more detailed geological surveys to underpin mineral exploration

World Mineral Production 2015-2019

The latest edition of this annual publication from the British Geological Survey (BGS). This volume contains mineral production statistics for the five year period from 2015 to 2019, for more than 70 mineral commodities, by country worldwide. Additional tables containing European production of aggregates and cement are included as an Appendix. It is the latest publication from the World Mineral Statistics dataset which began in 1913. The information contained in the dataset, and associated publications, is compiled from a wide range of sources: home and overseas government departments, national statistical offices, specialist commodity authorities, company reports, and a network of contacts throughout the world. The database compilers aim for integrity and accuracy in the data and, for quality control purposes, participate in international specialist groups, and maintain close links with other mineral statistics providers in Europe and North America. The data provides essential mineral intelligence for: security of supply issues economic analyses environmental issues sustainable development planning regulation and policy issues ommercial strategic plannin

Europe's rare earth element resource potential: an overview of REE metallogenetic provinces and their geodynamic setting

Security of supply of a number of raw materials is of concern for the European Union; foremost among these are the rare earth elements (REE), which are used in a range of modern technologies. A number of research projects, including the EURARE and ASTER projects, have been funded in Europe to investigate various steps along the REE supply chain. This paper addresses the initial part of that supply chain, namely the potential geological resources of the REE in Europe. Although the REE are not currently mined in Europe, potential resources are known to be widespread, and many are being explored. The most important European resources are associated with alkaline igneous rocks and carbonatites, although REE deposits are also known from a range of other settings. Within Europe, a number of REE metallogenetic belts can be identified on the basis of age, tectonic setting, lithological association and known REE enrichments. This paper reviews those metallogenetic belts and sets them in their geodynamic context. The most well-known of the REE belts are of Precambrian to Palaeozoic age and occur in Greenland and the Fennoscandian Shield. Of particular importance for their REE potential are the Gardar Province of SW Greenland, the Svecofennian Belt and subsequent Mesoproterozoic rifts in Sweden, and the carbonatites of the Central Iapetus Magmatic Province. However, several zones with significant potential for REE deposits are also identified in central, southern and eastern Europe, including examples in the Bohemian Massif, the Iberian Massif, and the Carpathians