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BGS geologists presented their latest research on critical metals at the Geores 2011 Scottish Minerals meeting at Murchison House, in Edinburgh on Tuesday 15 November.

The EU and the UK are heavily dependent on imports of many metals. Some of these, which are economically important and yet potentially vulnerable to supply disruption, are termed ‘critical metals’. These include the rare earth elements, the platinum group metals, cobalt and tungsten all of which are being used in increasing amounts globally. They are particularly important in a range of emerging technologies, such as clean energy where they are used in wind turbines, electric vehicles and photovoltaics.

There are no economic deposits of critical metals known in Scotland at present. However, there are indications in several areas that resources of some of these metals might exist. For example, high concentrations of rare earths have been identified in rock samples near Tongue in Sutherland and of platinum-group metals in Shetland and Aberdeenshire.

BGS Principal Economic Geologist, Gus Gunn, said: 'BGS is currently undertaking research to understand the processes responsible for the rare earth enrichments in Sutherland, although considerable further work would be required to identify any economic deposits of critical metals in Scotland.'

More about Geores 2011

As part of the process to evaluate a potential potash deposit in North Yorkshire, the BGS has been contracted by York Potash Ltd, a part of Sirius Minerals Plc to characterise core material recovered from a series of six exploration boreholes. 

Potash provides a critical source of potassium for fertilizers which are increasingly in demand to boost crop yields and resistance to disease to satisfy the escalating world population.

Sirius Minerals holds various onshore and offshore mineral rights agreements covering 621  km² between the towns of Whitby and Scarborough.  Based on an analysis of existing data, a JORC Exploration Target¹ of between 3.3 and 6 billion tonnes of 67% to 94% polyhalite (19% to 27% K2SO4) has been established for the currently contracted area.  Likewise, a JORC Exploration Target of between 330 and 400 million tonnes of 35% to 40% potassium chloride (KCl) has also been established for the project.

The boreholes are planned to intersect the Permian evaporite sequence at depths between 1150 and 1700 m, and three potash-bearing horizons in particular: the Sneaton Potash Seam, the Boulby Potash Seam and the Fordon Polyhalite Seam.  The polyhalite is the primary target of the exploration and the two potash horizons are secondary targets.

BGS was contracted to carry out the work on the basis of its expertise, reputation and impartiality and that it could offer the full range of required core curation, inspection and photography facilities as well as state-of-the art mineralogical and geochemical analyses at its Keyworth headquarters.

¹ The JORC Exploration Target estimates of quantity and grade are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource on the property and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in discovery of a Mineral Resource on the property.  The estimates are not a Reserve or Resource statement in accordance with an AIM recognised Standard and should not therefore be relied upon as such.

On 22 September 2011, CCS TLM Limited and The National Centre for CCS (NCCCS) launched an academy to offer training courses in the vital new area of carbon capture and storage.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between CCS TLM Limited and NCCCS to develop and jointly run a series of short (2-3 day) training courses aimed at improving knowledge and understanding of the CCS business across all CCS stakeholders. These courses will give delegates access to a CCS TLM team with extensive experience and capabilities in the technical, commercial and financing aspects of large-scale fully integrated CCS projects combined with the NCCCS that brings together the expertise and talents of geologists from the British Geological Survey and capture and pipeline engineers from the University of Nottingham.

The courses on offer from the Academy will be targeted at personnel in industry and other key stakeholders who will likely be involved in CCS in the future, or those who need to have a technical overview about CCS but are not able to undertake lengthy periods of training.

More about the CCS TLM Academy