This report is one of a series prepared by the British Geological Survey for various
administrative areas in England for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s
research project Mineral Resource Information in Support of National, Regional and
Local Planning.
The accompanying map relates to the county of Lincolnshire and delineates the
mineral resources of current, or potential, economic interest in the area and the sites
where minerals are or have been worked. It also relates these to national planning
designations, which may represent constraints on the extraction of minerals.
Three major elements of information are presented:
• the geological distribution and importance of mineral resources;
• the extent of mineral planning permissions and the location of current mineral
workings, and
• the extent of selected, nationally-designated planning constraints.
This wide range of information, much of which is scattered and not always available
in a consistent and convenient form, is presented on two digitally-generated summary
maps on the scale of 1:100 000. This scale is convenient for the overall display of the
data and allows for a legible topographic base on which to depict the information.
However, all the data are held digitally at larger scales using a Geographical
Information System (GIS), which allows easy revision, updating and customisation of
the information together with its possible integration with other datasets. The
information will form part of a Summary of the Mineral Resources of the East
Midlands Region.
The purpose of the work is to assist all interested parties involved in the preparation
and review of development plans, both in relation to the extraction of minerals and the
protection of mineral resources from sterilisation. It provides a knowledge base, in a
consistent format, on the nature and extent of mineral resources and the environmental
constraints, which may affect their extraction. An important objective is to provide
baseline data for the long term. The results may also provide a starting point for
discussions on specific planning proposals for mineral extraction or on proposals,
which may sterilise resources.
It is anticipated that the maps and report will also provide valuable background data
for a much wider audience, including the different sectors of the minerals industry,
other agencies and authorities (e.g. The Planning Inspectorate Agency, the
Environment Agency, the Countryside Agency and English Nature), environmental
interests and the general public.
Basic mineral resource information is essential to support mineral exploration and
development activities, for resource management and land-use planning, and to
establish baseline data for environmental impact studies and environmental
guidelines. It also enables a more sustainable pattern and standard of development to
be achieved by valuing mineral resources as national assets.
The mineral resources covered are sand and gravel, coal, hydrocarbons, building
stone, limestone, chalk and ironstone