Integrated mineral resource mapping and safeguarding : a national-scale example from Wales

Information on the spatial location of mineral resources is becoming increasingly important due to a widening gap between supply and demand for resources, competition for land-use, a complex planning regime and increased data requirements from planning departments to deal with minerals issues. In Wales, until now, a lack of widespread mineral resource information has hampered the efforts of Mineral Planning Authorities to ‘safeguard’ mineral resources. Wording of national policy on safeguarding and a lack of guidance on the subject has also led to debate about the way that mineral safeguarding should be approached. A consistent and transparent approach to mineral resource delineation has been applied in Wales and, for the first time, has been combined with the process of defining national Mineral Safeguarding Areas, to produce readily accessible spatial datasets for minerals planners. The short term aim of providing such datasets for immediate use by minerals planners has been achieved through the study. However, the true measure of success will be evident in years to come if planning practices today result in continued availability of minerals in the future.