Tom Bide

As part of TransFIRe, the British Geological Society (BGS) is working to gain a better understanding of the composition and production of mineral waste in the UK.  This research aims to help refine the estimate of the amount of mineral waste produced in the UK and provide more data on the composition of this waste to determine any potential uses for manufacturing processes within the Foundation Industries (FI). The FI are significant mineral consumers and use at least one or more of the products from the UK minerals industry, for example gypsum in cement and ceramics or silica sand in glass, metals and others. Mineral extraction and processing involves selection, size reduction and separation into products and inevitably will lead to the production of waste – material that is either discarded or unsold.  Multiplied over the 2000 or so mining and quarrying operations in the UK, this adds up [...]