Services for Mineral Planners

GWP provides technical support and expertise relevant to mineral planning, at a variety of scales (site specific, county, regional and national) to a range of client groups in the UK and overseas:

quarrying and mining companies preparing planning applications and related supporting material;

landowners or quarry/mine operators promoting sites for inclusion in regional or local spatial plans; and

National, Regional or local authorities responsible for maintaining a land bank of mineral resources and associated site identification and/or mineral zoning.

Technical areas of particular relevance are geological resource and reserve evaluation, stability assessment, assessment of blasting impacts, quarry design, and assessment of impacts on groundwater and surface water. GWP also provides community and commercial mediation services related to mining and engineering projects and expert witness inputs when planning related disputes arise.

Projects have included:

assistance with national, regional and local Mineral Plans;

identification and assessment of mineral resources;

production of the geological, hydrogeological and hydrological parts of the EIA;

expert witness input to Mineral Planning Inquiries and other Tribunals;

risk assessment of abandoned mines, mineral operations and waste tips.

More details can be found in the “Mineral Planning Support Services” capability statement that can be accessed via the link at the bottom of the page. A selection of Project Description Sheets of various relevant case histories is available on request.

Support to mineral operators and land owners

GWP provides technical support to mineral operators and landowners in the preparation of supporting information for planning applications, development of schemes to satisfy planning conditions, and in submissions related to the periodic review of planning permissions and licences.

Aggregates

GWP has significant experience in the evaluation, design and development of crushed rock and sand and gravel resources and reserves, providing services to some of the leading mineral operators in the UK, as well as smaller independent operators and the owners or managers of mineral bearing land. GWP’s expertise in engineering surveying, geotechnics, mineral resource and reserve assessment, ground and surface water management and risk assessments allows a coherent and integrated approach to the design and scheduling of mineral operations from initial site investigations through preparation of planning applications, to operations and after-use. We provide specialist advice on the impacts of mineral operations and subsequent after-use on complex surface and groundwater systems.

Cement

GWP provides specialist expertise to cement manufacturers in the evaluation of cement raw materials, design of quarries to recover them, and assessment of their environmental impacts as input to the preparation of relevant supporting information for planning and licence applications in the UK and overseas. The plans and assessments produced by GWP are used to enable mineral planners to make decisions from an informed position and provide senior management with information critical to making decisions regarding long term investment.

In addition to detailed planning and design of new or extended cement raw materials quarries, GWP has undertaken a number of strategic (regional and national) raw material resource assessments for cement manufacturers to identify potential sites for greenfield development of cement factories, both in the UK and overseas.

Coal

GWP has very extensive experience in geological and mining engineering support for open pit coal mining from the exploration and evaluation of deposits, through mine design and operation, design of stockpiles, tips, lagoon and post-closure planning. We have particular expertise in geotechnical aspects of open pit mining including slope and tip design in challenging geotechnical settings and in the investigation and assessment of subsidence related to current and old underground workings.

GWP works closely with other leading experts in Mineral Planning, Landscape Architects and Ecologists, and has a successful track record in presenting proposals to the MPA, Environment Agency and other stakeholders.

Support to National, Regional and Local government

GWP provides support and advice to local and national government on a range of mineral planning issues in the UK and overseas.

In the UK and Europe

GWP has undertaken a Site Mineral Assessment for West Sussex County Council which fed into their local Mineral Plan. GWP also produced a report for Surrey and Kent County Councils titled “A study of Silica Sand Quality and End Uses in Surrey and Kent” in 2010 which was a background document for the Kent Mineral Plan 2013-2030.

For another Mineral Planning GWP created a GIS database recording all the closed and dormant quarry and mine waste tips around the county. Historic records and GIS were used to assess the risk to the public of each site. All of the tips identified as potentially posing a threat to the general public were visited and appraised by a geotechnical engineer.

GWP has also advised a UK Mineral Planning Authority on schemes put forward by mineral operators to support ROMP submissions in a National Park. GWP assessed the technical merits of closure plans at a fluorspar quarry and assisted the Mineral Planning Authority with the interpretation of the 1950s planning permissions.

GWP has worked with the Geological Survey of Ireland (a division of the Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources (DCENR)) to assess their programme to assess relic mining structures throughout Ireland.

Overseas

GWP has undertaken a Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment on a national scale as the basis for recommended Mining Zones in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, as required under the Trinidad and Tobago Minerals Act 2000. The objective of this work was to identify and safeguard sufficient aggregate and other construction materials, tar sand and ceramic clays for 20 years of production, having regard to environmental and social constraints on their extent. The work required a market study (to establish demand and production requirements) and a blend of desk study research, LiDAR surveying, creation of a GIS database and investigations and assessments in country to delimit the mining zones.

GWP has also contributed to a search for new quarry sites in Hong Kong, providing the main consultant with conceptual designs and associated schedules of quantities and advantages and disadvantages at a number of possible sites to allow comparative analysis and narrowing of the selection. GWP also peer reviewed elements of the reporting.