This dataset provides a digital spatial representation of the Mineral Planning Authorities (MPAs) across the United Kingdom. Each polygon represents an administrative area responsible for mineral planning and regulation and is linked to the relevant onshore mineral resource maps and accompanying reports for that area. The Mineral Planning Authority areas broadly align with the administrative units used in the preparation of BGS mineral resource maps. In England and parts of South Wales, these maps were produced following a commission to BGS by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) through the research project Mineral resource information in support of national, regional and local planning. This work was completed in 2006 and resulted in a series of digitally generated mineral resource maps at a scale of 1:100 000, covering administrative areas across England and parts of South Wales. In Scotland, BGS was awarded funding from the Scottish Government Aggregates Levy Fund in 2007 to develop a comprehensive and accessible mineral resource information base for 18 local authorities within the Central Belt of Scotland. This work was co-funded through the BGS Sustainable Mineral Solutions project and was completed in March 2008. The project outputs included a guide to minerals information for the Central Belt and a series of digitally generated mineral resource maps at a scale of 1:100 000. In Wales, BGS was awarded funding from the Welsh Government-administered Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund for Wales in 2009 to develop a comprehensive mineral resource information base covering Wales. The project was co-funded through the BGS Sustainable Mineral Solutions team, part of the Minerals and Waste Science Programme, and was led from the BGS Cardiff office. This work was completed in July 2010 and produced a series of six digitally generated mineral resource maps at a scale of 1:100 000, together with supporting mineral resource information for Wales. A primary objective of this work was to provide baseline mineral resource information in a consistent, updateable format to support mineral planning, including use in mineral development plan documents and regional spatial strategies. This Mineral Planning Authority spatial layer provides a framework for accessing these mineral resource maps and reports, supporting mineral planning, land-use decision making and resource management.

This dataset shows the geographic extents of Mineral Assessment Reports covering sand and gravel resources and selected other industrial minerals across the United Kingdom. The index polygons represent the areas surveyed, typically between 100 and 200 square kilometres, for which individual reports and accompanying 1:25 000 scale maps were produced. The sand and gravel resources of the UK were surveyed on a regional basis by the Industrial Minerals Assessment Unit (IMAU) between 1968 and 1990. Each survey area was investigated through drilling and sampling of sand and gravel deposits, borehole logging, and particle-size analysis to determine the proportion of gravel, sand and fines. The accompanying maps categorise resources as exposed, present beneath overburden, or potentially not workable. In addition to sand and gravel, other industrial mineral resources were assessed during the same period, including celestite, limestone and dolomite, conglomerate, and hard rock resources. Selecting individual polygons provides details of the corresponding report, including title, report number, author(s), subtitle and publication date. The Mineral Assessment Report series was commissioned by the Department of the Environment and undertaken by the British Geological Survey.

This dataset comprises reports and associated project documentation from mineral exploration projects undertaken in Great Britain under the Mineral Exploration and Investigation Grants Act (MEIGA). The collection includes reports from approximately 267 mineral exploration projects carried out between 1971 and 1984 by external mineral exploration companies under grant funding administered by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The Mineral Exploration and Investment Grants Act 1972 was introduced to stimulate mineral exploration in Great Britain through the provision of government grants for exploration targeting non-ferrous metals, fluorspar, barium minerals and potash. The programme contributed to a number of significant mineral discoveries and developments, including the Gairloch copper–zinc–gold deposit, the Parys Mountain copper–lead–zinc deposit and the Hemerdon tungsten–tin deposit. The MEIGA report collection includes geological and exploration data generated during project activities, including geological mapping, soil and stream sediment geochemistry, geophysical survey data, drill core logs and analytical assay data. The reports are held by the British Geological Survey (BGS) on behalf of the former Department of Trade and Industry. All reports are held in hard copy and are available on open file. Associated geological materials collected during the programme are available for viewing through the BGS core store booking process. Spatial information on MEIGA project areas is available through BGS GeoIndex. The scanned reports are available on the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) website (with full text search capability), the National Geoscience Data Centre Deposited Data Search and spatially through the BGS Geoindex.