Relative to its size, Britain is well endowed with mineral resources. Considerable mineral exploration was carried out by the British Geological Survey (BGS) over a 25-year period as part of its Mineral Reconnaissance Program (MRP). This provided geological, geochemical, geophysical, mineralogical and metallogenic information on prospective areas across Britain. By the end of the MRP in 1997, 146 reports had been issued covering localities across the UK; over the next year, all of these will be made available to download from the BGS website, MineralsUK.com, which has been relaunched this month.
MineralsUK.com is the website of the BGS Centre for Sustainable Mineral Development. Part of the BGS Minerals and Waste science program, the centre is a global leader in the compilation, provision and analysis of mineral statistics and the major UK national provider of spatial and statistical minerals information. Its research focuses on areas directly relevant to the user community, such as metallogenesis, land-use impacts of mineral extraction and geomaterials.
To mark over ten years online, MineralsUK.com has been freshly redesigned and brought right up to date. It will continue to provide the latest industry news, timely statistical, land use planning and resource information. The release of the MRP reports on MineralsUK.com is in keeping with the BGS OpenGeoscience ethos. The first 10 MRP reports are now available to download. This exploration information is the latest addition to a large portfolio of free downloads available from MineralsUK.com, including research reports and a global mineral statistical archive stretching back to 1913.
Andrew Bloodworth, Head of Science for Minerals and Waste at the BGS: “The release of these exploration reports represents the latest addition to our large collection of minerals-related information which is freely available online to our users. Supported by the Department of Communities and Local Government, the new-look MineralsUK.com website represents a major source of impartial and authoritative information on minerals issues in the UK and elsewhere”.
