Dr Karen Hanghøj will deliver the ESE Departmental Seminar on the 16th of March 2023: “The British Geological Survey and Critical Minerals – The results of the first UK criticality assessment.”
Join us in room G41 – RSM Building – on Thursday the 16th of March 2023 at 12h10.
Or on Microsoft Teams: Karen Hanghøj seminar
Abstract
The Bristish Geological Survey (BGS) is a not-for-profit public body that sits at the intersection between research and applied science. We deliver our public science role and research to understand the Earth: we work closely with other organisations, both governmental and non-governmental, to develop geoscience-related research and infrastructure.
One of our key roles is to provide objective and authoritative geoscientific data, information and knowledge to support society to:
- use its natural resources responsibly and sustainably
- manage environmental change
- be resilient to environmental hazards
Our role as the national geological survey is to:
- give impartial and independent geoscientific advice
- hold the national repository of data and knowledge for geoscience in the UK
- develop services to enable Government, business and the public to benefit from the national repository of data and knowledge
- provide analytical facilities, including observatory networks, to support earth science research and Government needs
- deliver UK leadership and make our skills, expertise and knowledge available globally
- undertake research and development in pursuit of these responsibilities
The British Geological Survey recently conducted the first UK criticality assessment.
Metals, minerals and materials and their sustainable supply are important for society. They are key for achieving the goals set out in COP21 and for several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Some of the important metals to underpin the energy transition are viewed as critical.
Criticality of minerals is generally assessed in terms of two dimensions, the likelihood of supply disruption, often termed supply risk, and the economic vulnerability to potential supply disruption, the importance. Critical minerals (CRMs) are high on the agenda globally and several initiatives are underway to understand and mitigate criticality, on an international level (e.g., UNECE’s resource classification framework (UNFC), and EU assessments and funding initiatives) and on the national level and the level of certain sectors. UK is committed to developing a CR strategy and establishing long term understanding of implications and possible mitigations of criticality. In the recent BGS study, 26 minerals were assessed for their potential criticality to the UK economy in terms of their global supply risk and the UK economic vulnerability to such a disruption. Three indicators were used to estimate supply risk: production concentration, companion metal fraction and recycling rate. Economic vulnerability was calculated from six indicators: production evolution, price volatility, substitutability, global trade concentration, UK import reliance and UK gross value added contribution. Eighteen of the 26 minerals have a ‘high’ potential criticality rating and constitute the UK Critical Minerals List 2021.
About the Speaker
Karen Hanghøj is the Director of the British Geological Survey. She is a geologist with extensive experience in research and innovation management and the minerals and metals industry. Karen is passionate about understanding the complexity of resource management, about environmental and social sustainability, and about the role of geoscience in finding solutions to societal challenges.
Karen holds a PhD in Geology from University of Copenhagen and has worked with research on geological processes in the lower crust and mantle and their associated mineral deposits, before taking senior leadership roles in research and innovation organisations. She is a member of a range of international committees and working groups.