Study on future UK demand and supply of lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite for electric vehicle batteries

This report has been produced by the British Geological Survey (BGS) under the auspices of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)-funded UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC). It is the first output from CMIC, which aims to provide up to date, accurate, high resolution data and dynamic analysis on primary and secondary minerals resources, supply, stocks and flows of critical minerals, in the UK and globall

Potential for critical raw material prospectivity in the UK

The UK Critical Minerals Strategy (BEIS, 2022) includes a commitment to “begin a nationalscale assessment of the critical minerals within the UK. By March 2023, we will collate geoscientific data and identify target areas of potential”. This report provides that national-scale assessment of the geological potential for critical raw materials in the UK. It represents the published output of a study, jointly funded by the British Geological Survey and the Department for Business and Trade, which reviewed available geoscientific data in order to identify areas of potential geological prospectivity for critical raw materials in the UK. Critical raw materials (CRMs) are those mineral commodities that are both economically important and at risk of supply disruption. The commodities addressed in this report are those identified as critical to the UK by the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) (Lusty et al., 2021). These CRMs are currently obtained from mining across the world, but at the time of writing none are produced in the UK, although tungsten has been mined in recent years. Some CRMs such as lithium, tin and graphite are typically the primary products of mines, whereas others are produced as co- or by-products of major commodities such as gold, copper or zinc. Current understanding of the UK’s mineral resource endowment rests largely on evidence from historic mining and exploration, together with targeted academic research. The UK has an extensive history of mining that dates to prehistoric times. Gold, barite, fluorite, gypsum, potash and polyhalite are among the commodities that are currently mined, and exploration for many raw materials is occurring across the whole of the UK. The work presented in this report follows a methodology known as a mineral systems approach, which relies on the concept that all mineral deposits of a certain type were formed by a combination of particular geological processes (McCuaig et al., 2010). The processes that must operate for a mineral deposit to form are identified and translated into mappable target criteria derived from available datasets. Key datasets to be used would typically include geological maps, geochemical soil and stream sediment maps, geophysical maps, and mineral occurrence databases. The UK has full geological map coverage, but other datasets are incomplete, with high-resolution geophysical data only being available for limited areas. New stream sediment geochemistry maps were created as part of this work and are available on the CMIC interactive map portal1 , but the whole country is not covered for all elements. These data limitations mean that this report only provides a knowledge-driven assessment of geological potential for CRM prospectivity across the UK. It provides maps for CRMs (grouped or singly as geologically appropriate) indicating the areas where the geological criteria have been met and thus there is potential for deposits of these CRMs to occur. It is important to note that the maps represent areas of potential prospectivity, not where deposits of critical minerals are guaranteed to be found, and also that mineral deposits could be found beyond the identified prospective areas, where localised geological conditions are suitable. The areas identified in the maps can be considered as targets for more detailed research and exploration. This report focuses solely on the geological potential and does not consider other aspects such as environmental designations and planning considerations that may affect the development of a mineral deposit. Combining all the individual maps highlights areas that are prospective for several CRMs and are thus priority for further geological investigations. From north to south, these areas include: areas of prospective geology around Loch Maree near Gairloch; parts of the central Highlands and Aberdeenshire; areas of prospective geology in mid-County Tyrone in Northern Ireland; parts of Cumbria; parts of the North Pennine Orefield; areas in north-west Wales and Pembrokeshire; and south-west England. These areas should now be the focus for collection of new geological, geochemical and geophysical data, in order to identify new CRM prospects for detailed investigation

The Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (congenital absence of uterus and vagina) – phenotypic manifestations and genetic approaches

The Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome affects at least 1 out of 4500 women and has for a long time been considered as a sporadic anomaly. Congenital absence of upper vagina and uterus is the prime feature of the disease which, in addition, is often found associated with unilateral renal agenesis or adysplasia as well as skeletal malformations (MURCS association). The phenotypic manifestations of MRKH overlap various other syndromes or associations and thus require accurate delineation. Since MRKH manifests itself in males, the term GRES syndrome (Genital, Renal, Ear, Skeletal) might be more appropriate when applied to both sexes. The MRKH syndrome, when described in familial aggregates, seems to be transmitted as an autosomal dominant trait with an incomplete degree of penetrance and variable expressivity. This suggests the involvement of either mutations in a major developmental gene or a limited chromosomal deletion. Until recently progress in understanding the genetics of MRKH syndrome has been slow, however, now HOX genes have been shown to play key roles in body patterning and organogenesis, and in particular during genital tract development. Expression and/or function defects of one or several HOX genes may account for this syndrome

Clock genes and their genomic distributions in three species of salmonid fishes: Associations with genes regulating sexual maturation and cell cycling

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Clock family genes encode transcription factors that regulate clock-controlled genes and thus regulate many physiological mechanisms/processes in a circadian fashion. Clock1 duplicates and copies of Clock3 and NPAS2-like genes were partially characterized (genomic sequencing) and mapped using family-based indels/SNPs in rainbow trout (RT)(<it>Oncorhynchus mykiss</it>), Arctic charr (AC)(<it>Salvelinus alpinus</it>), and Atlantic salmon (AS)(<it>Salmo salar</it>) mapping panels.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Clock1 duplicates mapped to linkage groups RT-8/-24, AC-16/-13 and AS-2/-18. Clock3/NPAS2-like genes mapped to RT-9/-20, AC-20/-43, and AS-5. Most of these linkage group regions containing the Clock gene duplicates were derived from the most recent 4R whole genome duplication event specific to the salmonids. These linkage groups contain quantitative trait loci (QTL) for life history and growth traits (i.e., reproduction and cell cycling). Comparative synteny analyses with other model teleost species reveal a high degree of conservation for genes in these chromosomal regions suggesting that functionally related or co-regulated genes are clustered in syntenic blocks. For example, anti-müllerian hormone (amh), regulating sexual maturation, and ornithine decarboxylase antizymes (oaz1 and oaz2), regulating cell cycling, are contained within these syntenic blocks.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Synteny analyses indicate that regions homologous to major life-history QTL regions in salmonids contain many candidate genes that are likely to influence reproduction and cell cycling. The order of these genes is highly conserved across the vertebrate species examined, and as such, these genes may make up a functional cluster of genes that are likely co-regulated. CLOCK, as a transcription factor, is found within this block and therefore has the potential to cis-regulate the processes influenced by these genes. Additionally, clock-controlled genes (CCGs) are located in other life-history QTL regions within salmonids suggesting that at least in part, trans-regulation of these QTL regions may also occur via Clock expression.</p