Provision of geological information and updating of Mineral Consultation Areas for Leicestershire County Council

This report describes work carried out by the British Geological Survey on behalf of Leicestershire County Council to assist in the revision of their Minerals Local Plan. The work involved the provision of maps showing the extent of individual mineral resources in the county and the location of mineral sites where permitted reserves are present. More importantly, it also involved updating Mineral Consultation Areas for each mineral and providing these in digital form for use within a Geographical Information System. This report describes the methodology adopted and presents the various results

Environmental and economic information for aggregates provision

This report describes a one-year research project entitled ‘Environmental and economic information systems for aggregates provision’. This project is an extension to previous research on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and future aggregates extraction, which was carried out by the British Geological Survey (BGS) and reported in early 2004 (Steadman, et al., 2004). Both phases of the research were co-funded by the BGS and the Mineral Industry Sustainable Technology Programme (MIST). Environmental, economic and social information are essential for sustainable planning for the provision of aggregates. There is a need to bring together disparate information relating to aggregate extraction. Datasets include the location of resources and their potential end-uses, as well as those on the environment and transport. Bringing this digital information together into one location or system will assist in supporting a more balanced and informed approach to the decision making process. A number of regulatory mechanisms are currently driving the gathering and compilation of relevant environmental, economic and social information. Current drivers for information relevant to aggregate provision include environmental appraisal of the provision of aggregates, SEA and Sustainability Appraisal (SA). The objective of this research was to provide an interactive ‘tool’ or information system for the minerals industry, land-use planners and other stakeholders to use when considering options for future aggregate provision. The study area for the research was the East Midlands Region of England. The project had three main deliverables: 1. To provide an online Geographic Information System (GIS) to access the ‘environmental sensitivity’ map which was developed for the East Midlands Region during the first phase of research; 2. to compile aggregate end-use suitability maps for the East Midland Region; and 3. to hold a stakeholder consultation exercise and dissemination seminars. Each of these was met within the agreed timeframe. The environmental sensitivity map information and associated attributes have been made available on the internet via the BGS ‘Minerals information online’ web GIS for the East Midlands Region (www.mineralsuk.com/web_gis). Accommodating these data in a web GIS environment has entailed some compromises on data resolution and system functionality. A methodology has been developed to integrate a range of aggregate technical property data. This can be used to summarise the distribution of aggregate resources suitable for particular end-uses. These summary technical data are useful in communicating issues of variable aggregate quality and economic value to non-technical stakeholders in the mineral planning process. Availability of appropriate technical property data for different aggregate resources across a wide geographical area is critical in developing these maps. Feedback from an extensive consultation and dissemination exercise has generally been very positive. Two critiques by independent consultants of the environmental sensitivity map were also undertaken. These were deemed an important aspect of the consultation process. Stakeholders raised several issues. There were some concerns about updating and maintenance of asset data and about the lack of social information. In addition, some fundamental issues of approach (particularly asset weighting) raised in the previous phase of this research resurfaced during this consultation. Environmental sensitivity mapping will be carried out for the whole of England by the BGS in the near future. The data will be made available online as each region becomes available. It is anticipated that the mineral GISs for all regions of England (except London) will be completed by December 2005. New datasets may be added to the environmental sensitivity layer as they become available. The research into end-use suitability maps will be carried on by the BGS under its Minerals Programme, with the support of co-funding where possible. The project team continue to welcome feedback and criticism of this research

Au+Au Reactions at the AGS: Experiments E866 and E917

Particle production and correlation functions from Au+Au reactions have been measured as a function of both beam energy (2-10.7AGeV) and impact parameter. These results are used to probe the dynamics of heavy-ion reactions, confront hadronic models over a wide range of conditions and to search for the onset of new phenomena.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, Talk presented at Quark Matter '9

Minerals safeguarding areas and mineral consultation areas for West Sussex

This report describes work carried out by the British Geological Survey on behalf of West Sussex County Council to delineate its Minerals Safeguarding Areas and Mineral Consultation Areas. This is in accordance with the methodology outlined in “A guide to mineral safeguarding in England” (McEvoy et al., 2007), which is in line with the Communities and Local Government document, Mineral Policy Statement 1: Planning and Minerals. This was released in November 2006 and it introduces the obligation on all Mineral Planning Authorities to define Minerals Safeguarding Areas. The work involved the provision of maps showing the extent of individual mineral resources in West Sussex and creating Minerals Safeguarding Areas and Mineral Consultation Areas for each mineral resource. These were provided in digital form for use within a geographical information system

Alternative sources of aggregates

In most countries aggregates for construction are produced from the crushing and processing of hard rocks (mainly limestones, igneous rocks and sandstones) or from the extraction and screening of unconsolidated deposits of sand and gravel. The availability of aggregate sources varies from place to place within a country, depending on the geology. There are two main sources of aggregates in Jamaica; sand and gravel from alluvial deposits, especially from the active river channels, and limestone. The latter dominates in the north and west of Jamaica and the major producers of sand and gravel are in the south and east of the island. River sand is often in short supply and is generally the only available source of natural fine aggregate, an essential component of concrete and other building products. There is considerable pressure in many countries to use secondary and recycled aggregates in construction because of the environmental problems associated with the production of primary aggregates. There is particular concern about the environmental effects of instream sand and gravel mining and thus there is a need to know to what extent alternative materials can augment or replace sand and gravel from this source. In Jamaica, the alternative sources include, marine sand and gravel, manufactured sand, river terrace deposits and recycled aggregates. There has not been any production of marine aggregates in Jamaica but the environmental concerns of onshore extraction and land-use pressures require marine sources to be seriously investigated. Offshore sources are thought to exist off the mouth of the Yallahs river in Saint Thomas, Jamaica, but have not been investigated in detail. The Yallahs has formed a fan-delta onshore and this feature extends for a further two kilometres offshore. The onshore deposits consist of interbedded, poorly sorted, coarse gravels and sands which are over 30 m thick and which are extensively quarried, with extraction concentrated in the main river channel. The sediments offshore are thought to be similar in lithology and thickness to the land-based deposits and there is current interest in dredging marine aggregates from the mouth of the Yallahs river. However, a range of resource assessment, environmental impact, production and investment issues need to be addressed prior to any development. Fine aggregate can be manufactured by crushing and processing hard rocks such as limestone and sandstone to produce fine grained (sand-sized) material. The degree to which such crushed rock sand can replace natural sand varies with rock type, the degree of quarry processing used and end-use. Nevertheless, in many parts of the world such material is a major source of fine aggregate. In Jamaica, ‘stone dust’ is produced as a by-product of limestone quarrying and is used, principally, in concrete block making and in asphalt products. The quality of the ‘stone dust’ is, however, variable and may perform poorly as fine aggregate. A few quarries wash the sand to remove fines and this significantly improves its quality. Sand is also produced from crushing river gravels at several sites, but this is coarse-grained and at the limits of specifications. Jamaica has large resources of rocks that can be crushed to produce manufactured sand, but improvement in quarry crushing and processing plant is required to consistently produce manufactured sand of acceptable quality. In Jamaica, substantial resources of sand and gravel occur within the floodplain and terrace deposits and beneath the agricultural lands of the major river valleys. These deposits are not currently worked for sand and gravel aggregates; extraction is largely restricted to the river 1 channel deposits. It is common practice in many parts of the world for sand and gravel to be dug from such alluvial deposits. Indeed, in many countries they are the preferred source of fluvial sand and gravel as in-stream mining is restricted by environmental constraints. Development of the floodplain and terrace deposits in Jamaica will ease the pressure on mining of river channel deposits, reducing the impacts of river extraction. Nevertheless, there are environmental and other impacts associated with the working of river terrace deposits. If these resources are to be developed in future, a range of studies will be required, including exploration surveys, hydrogeological investigations and environmental and social impact assessments. Many mineral wastes fulfil the technical requirements to substitute for primary aggregates and many governments are now encouraging greater use of mineral wastes as aggregates. Concrete, bricks and asphalt, for example, may be crushed and screened to produce secondary aggregates that can be used in construction. Recycling concrete rubble not only reduces environmental impacts of new aggregate production, but also avoids impacts associated with disposal. In Jamaica, the degree of recycling of mineral waste materials into secondary aggregates is very small, although some construction and demolition waste is used as fill. In conclusion, there are several potential sources of alternative aggregate materials in Jamaica. There are, however, large resources of natural primary aggregate materials, although their extraction creates considerable environmental problems. The planning and management of aggregate resources must be based on the consideration of all possible sources. Therefore, the viability of alternative materials needs to be considered when formulating aggregate resource management plans

Assessing the feasibility of underground mining of aggregates in southern and eastern England

In the future, the provision of hard rock resources suitable for aggregates may give rise to increasing levels of conflict,particularly where they coincide with attractive landscapes or other forms of land use. Consequently licenses to operate new quarries or extensions to existing quarries are likely to become increasingly difficult to obtain. The underground mining of aggregates may become both environmentally more desirable and an economic necessity to maintain security of supply. This research examined the economic feasibility of underground mining for crushed rock aggregates in southern and eastern England, where demand for this material is high but suitable resources of pre-Permian age are absent at the surface. It sought to determine whether or not aggregates could be produced underground in the south east area of England and delivered to the local market at a cost comparable with that for surface quarries located at a greater distance. Cost models were established for aggregates production, haulage, environmental impact mitigation, health and safety, decommissioning and restoration using four different mine output scenarios. The available geological information was re-examined to identify potential areas that may contain aggregates resources at depth. With a discount rate of 10%, the lowest discounted cost of aggregate delivered to market determined across 31 prospect locations tested was £13.03/tonne, 19% higher than the reference of £10.97/tonne from a Leicestershire reference quarry producing 3.5 MTPA, and serving the same market. Capital expenditures for the most competitive underground aggregates mines ranged from 1.46 to 1.60 times the £92.63 million estimated for the Leicestershire reference case. Value generated by after-uses for the void created as well as rental revenues from concurrent development are subsequently taken into account

FarmLime Project Summary Report

This report summarises work funded by the Department for International Development Knowledge and Research programme, as part of the British Government’s programme of aid to developing countries. The ‘FarmLime: Low-cost lime for small-scale farming’ project (R7410) set out to investigate a way of improving the agricultural performance of small scale farms through the use of low-cost agricultural lime produced within the farming district using locally occurring dolomite. The main technical research phase (1999 to 2001) will be followed with a dissemination workshop phase(2002 to 2005)

Good practice in the design and use of large sluice boxes

Small-scale gold mining is an important source of livelihood for many poor people in the developing world. The gold recoveries by small-scale miners are notoriously poor but a scoping study, (Styles et al 1999) showed that there was considerable potential to improve the situation. The main way of recovering gold from alluvial gold ores is sluicing, but the small-scale miners often have a poor understanding of the principles of the operation of a sluice box or how to make it work better. This report contains information to give Mining Engineers, Mines Officers and Mining Technicians in developing countries a good understanding of the design and operating principles of sluice boxes. This will enable them to give good advice to small-scale miners about ways to make their mining operations more efficient and improve their gold recoveries. The report is aimed at alluvial miners in areas where water is readily available and relatively large sluice boxes are used. It is based on experience in Guyana and is particularly relevant to gold mining in south America and south-east Asia. The gold recovery process is described from the delivery of ore to the box through to extraction of gold from final concentrates. At all stages of the process the principles are explained and recommendations given on the best practice. This covers the design, construction and operation of the various components of a sluice box. Particular attention is paid to the gold trapping system in the box; the riffle system and the mats. This is an aspect that often receives little attention but has profound effects on the gold recovery and can be relatively easily improved. A system of mats and riffles developed in Canada is readily applicable to small-scale mining has been demonstrated and is described in the report. It is important to have the correct water flow conditions in the box for the gold trapping system to work efficiently. Ways to test the conditions are given and the design features that need to be modified to achieve optimum flow are described. In addition advice is given on ways of minimising the adverse environmental impact of alluvial gold mining, both on decreasing the use and release of mercury and spoiling of water resources. The importance of testing both the alluvial ores and the products of the mining operations is stressed. This helps to ensure that appropriate gold recovery methods are being used for the type of ore being mined. It also keeps a check on the efficiency of the gold recovery and gives immediate warning of problems

Alluvial mining of aggregates in Costa Rica

Throughout the developing world river sand and gravel is widely exploited as aggregate for construction. Aggregate is often mined directly from the river channel as well as from floodplain and adjacent river terrace deposits. Depending on the geological setting, in-stream mining can create serious environmental impacts, particularly if the river being mined is erosional. The impacts of such mining on farmland, river stability, flood risk, road and bridge structures and ecology are typically severe. The environmental degradation may make it difficult to provide for the basic needs (water, food, fuelwood, communications) of communities naturally located in the river valleys. Despite the importance of this extractive industry in most developing countries, the details of its economic and environmental geology are not fully understood and therefore do not adequately inform existing regulatory strategies. The main problem is therefore a need to strengthen the general approach to planning and managing these resources. Compounding the problem is the upsurge of illegal extractions along many river systems. There is therefore a need to foster public awareness and community stewardship of the resource. The project ‘Effective Development of River Mining’ aims to provide effective mechanisms for the control of sand and gravel mining operations in order to protect local communities, to reduce environmental degradation and to facilitate long-term rational and sustainable use of the natural resource base. This project (Project R7814) has been funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) as part of their Knowledge and Research (KAR) programme. This programme constitutes a key element in the UK’s provision of aid and assistance to less developed nations. The project started in October 2000 and terminates late in 2004