Pembrokeshire in Wales was one among the areas identified by the British Geological Survey as prospective for critical raw materials.
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On Monday, several large areas of the UK were identified as potential sites for exploration for critical raw materials, reflecting the country’s emphasis on delivering domestic supplies of rare earth minerals seen as crucial to the clean energy transition.
AND reportpublished by the British Geological Survey, found eight areas across the country which have the fitting geology to be prospective for critical raw materials similar to lithium and graphite.
Critical raw materials are economically vital minerals that may be used to provide batteries and semiconductors which can be essential to the worldwide transition away from fossil fuels.
A few of the regions identified as ‘particularly worthy of further study’ include parts of the Scottish Highlands, areas in central Tyrone in Northern Ireland, north-west Wales and Pembrokeshire, parts of Cumbria in England and south-west England.
The report was produced on behalf of the government-funded Critical Minerals Intelligence Center, the country’s first center established to gather and analyze information on the provision of critical minerals.
Mapping these prospective areas for critical raw materials is one among the primary steps within the UK Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy. The goal is to extend the country’s resilience to disruptions in the provision chain of critical minerals by driving the expansion of national capability.
The authors of the report emphasized that defining an area as prospective doesn’t necessarily mean that it would be the goal of exploration and extraction.
Additionally they note that the evaluation focuses on geological evidence and doesn’t bear in mind possible development constraints or other social or environmental aspects.
“Absolutely essential to our lifestyle”
Eimear Deady, a mineral resources geologist on the British Geological Survey, said “just one in a thousand potential mineral exploration projects becomes a working mine”.
“Way more research is required, and if prospectors find evidence of commercially viable CRM deposits, they are going to must undergo a well-established planning process. If prospectors find evidence of commercially viable CRM deposits, they are going to need to undergo a well-established planning process,” said Deady.
“The areas we’ve got identified, together with other parts of the UK, are under-researched and we’d like more systematic research to know the potential availability of CRM in our country.”
The British Geological Survey said in its report that the UK has 18 metals and minerals on its list of critical raw materials, with an additional six commodities considered “highly critical”.
They’re said to be now sourced almost exclusively from mining and refining operations in other countries, although tungsten has been mined within the UK lately.
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Kathryn Goodenough, co-author of the report and chief geologist on the British Geological Survey, said some critical raw materials – similar to lithium, tin and graphite – are inclined to be primary products of mines, while others are produced as co- or by-products.
“Where mining is expanding for other commodities, it is usually vital for miners to also evaluate the CRM potential of their deposits,” Goodenough said.
“Other countries similar to Canada, the US, Norway, Sweden and Finland are also mapping their very own geological potential as they too understand the danger of constant to rely entirely on global supply chains for minerals which can be absolutely essential to our lifestyle.”