Critical Minerals Challenge Centre Field Trip
On Tuesday 22 April some of the Critical Minerals Challenge Centre team were hosted by Cornwall Resources for the first field trip of the project. Cornwall Resources, based in Kelly Bray, are one of the key partners in the UKRI funded project led by University of Exeter. Cornwall Resources focus is on developing a world-class Tungsten-Tin-Copper resource and ‘Transdisciplinary Work Package 2’ of the Centres activities will involve them partnering with Dr Eva Marquis and colleagues from multiple disciplines in the Centre to evaluate the critical minerals opportunity from legacy mine waste.
The field trip was designed provide an overview of the styles of mine waste in the company’s license area and develop insight into how the project will manage data collection. Members of the team came from across the academic community and included social scientists, an ecologist, and a sustainable finance specialist as well as geology experts and the managerial team. Bringing together different expertise to experience these mine waste sites in real life sparked lively debate and conversation, which will feed into the project research.
Dennis Rowland, Cornwall Resources Project Manager, showed the team around various sites in East Cornwall introducing them to the history of the locations, what the future might look like and how the local community interact with these spaces currently. As well as a fascinating glimpse into the past, it was also surprising to learn at how recently some of these mines were in operation and how nature has reclaimed and evolved within these locations. Innovation Fellow, Dave Hudson, will be looking at the ecology of these sites, as well as other research projects across the Centre. And looking at the future of the sector, Sustainable Finance Innovation Fellow, Chenyan Lyu will be researching the financing of mining exploration projects.
The Centre’s Social Scientists, Dr Joanie Willett, Dr Harry Pitts and Christie Van Tinteren were interested in how the company successfully engage the local community to ensure the smooth running of their exploration, as well as how they work with local groups to keep them informed and involved in their work; this is another key area of research for the Centre, alongside what the future of work looks like for the industry.
Project Lead, Professor Frances Wall, said “this first field trip was a great success and sets the bar for how we want to develop the research in a truly transdisciplinary way. Essential to the success of this 4-year programme, is working closely with our industry partners to tackle the challenge of the transition to Net Zero and we’re excited to be working with partners like Cornwall Resources.”