Cornish mining event to reduce industry’s carbon footprint

Yesterday (12 June 2008), mining and quarrying professionals met with researchers on the Cornwall Campus (officially known as the Tremough Campus) to focus on reducing the industry’s carbon footprint. The event, which was organised by the University of Exeter’s Camborne School of Mines (CSM), brought together representatives from local and national mining and quarrying companies, including Imerys Minerals, British Aggregates Association and Delobole Slate Company. Other attendees included the Duchy of Cornwall, British Geological Survey and University of Nottingham, as well as several academics from the University of Exeter.

Professor Frances Wall, newly-appointed Head of Camborne School of Mines said: “Reducing their carbon footprint is one of the most important issues facing the mining and quarrying industries over the next ten years. Most of the CO2 output is related to energy use and fuel for transport and it is estimated that a colossal 11% of the World's fuel is used by the mining industry. With its unique research strengths in mining and renewable energy, and international links with the mining and quarrying industry, CSM is well placed to work help reduce these energy requirements.”

The event included a talk from the British Geological Survey on assessing the carbon footprint of quarrying, presentations by CSM on how to reduce energy bills and CO2 emissions, and a session on the microwave processing of minerals by the University of Nottingham. The aim was to bring together industry professionals and researchers to discuss how academic institutions, like CSM, can work together to research ways of making the mining and quarrying industries more environmentally sustainable.

Professor Frances Wall continued: “With fuel costs rising so rapidly at the moment, mining companies have a strong financial as well as environmental need to improve their energy efficiency. This event was a great opportunity to bring members of the industry and some of our UK academic colleagues together to discuss the challenges that lie ahead. We learned that leading local companies such as Imerys are already employing some of the ideas we suggested and are keen to use renewable energy technologies. The main obstacle is the planning permission required.”

View the Responsible Mining webpage >>

Image l-r: Dean Millar (University of Exeter), Richard Hoare (Imerys), Aled Jones (University of Nottingham), Frances Wall (University of Exeter), Andrew Bloodworthy (British Geological Survey).

[Back to News Index]

^