Get the permits and consents for quarrying and mining

A. Minerals planning permission

All mineral extraction is development requiring planning permission from the mineral planning authority — the county or unitary council in England, not the district — under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, normally with an environmental impact assessment and conditions on working hours, restoration and aftercare. Existing permissions are subject to periodic review of mineral permissions (ROMP). The right to work the mineral is a separate private matter (mineral rights or a lease) that the planning consent does not confer. Devolved equivalents apply under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, the Planning (Wales) Act 2015 and the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011.

B. Environmental permits for discharges and mineral processing

Whether you need an environmental permit depends on your activity.

• Stone quarrying (08.11): on-site processing such as lime or cement-feed calcining, crushing and screening installations and discharges to controlled waters can require an environmental permit. Most simple dig-and-haul stone quarries do not need one.
• Sand, gravel and clay (08.12): wet workings frequently involve water abstraction, dewatering, silt lagoons and discharges to controlled waters needing an environmental permit and an abstraction licence.
• Chemical and fertiliser minerals (08.91): processing potash, phosphate and similar minerals is typically a permitted installation.
• Salt (08.93): solution brine extraction involves water abstraction and discharge subject to an environmental permit and abstraction licensing.
• Other minerals (08.99): processing or treatment of the extracted mineral may need an environmental permit depending on the mineral and the process.

The regulator is the Environment Agency in England, Natural Resources Wales in Wales, SEPA in Scotland (under the CAR licence) and the NIEA in Northern Ireland.

C. Explosives for blasting (where used)

Hard-rock quarries — limestone, granite, slate — and some other mineral workings that blast must hold a licence or registration to store explosives under the Explosives Regulations 2014, with secure storage, separation distances, assigned-name and tracking duties, and competent shotfiring. The shotfiring rules in the Quarries Regulations 1999 also apply. HSE licenses larger stores; the police license acquisition and keeping in smaller cases. Sand and gravel digging does not normally involve blasting.

D. COMAH — chemical and fertiliser minerals (where thresholds met)

Sites storing dangerous substances above the Schedule 1 thresholds — for example bulk ammonium-nitrate-type fertiliser minerals or reactive and oxidising materials — become COMAH establishments under the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015. You must notify the competent authority (HSE and the relevant environmental regulator acting jointly — the Environment Agency in England, Natural Resources Wales in Wales, SEPA in Scotland), prepare a major-accident prevention policy and, at upper tier, submit a safety report. This is leaf-specific (primarily 08.91) and threshold-dependent — most quarries do not reach the thresholds.

E. Habitats and peatland scrutiny (peat extraction)

Peat extraction faces intensifying environmental scrutiny. Most active peatlands are protected habitats — Sites of Special Scientific Interest or Special Areas of Conservation — so a habitats regulations assessment, Natural England, NRW or NatureScot consent and an environmental impact assessment are normally required. The sale of bagged peat for horticulture is being phased out, new extraction is heavily constrained, and existing permissions face ROMP review. This applies specifically to class 08.92.

F. Underground rock-salt mining (Mines Regulations 2014)

Underground rock-salt mining — for example the Winsford mine — is a mine, not a quarry, so the Mines Regulations 2014 apply instead of the Quarries Regulations 1999. You must appoint a mine manager, maintain ventilation, prepare escape and emergency arrangements, and meet the shaft and winding duties. Solution mining of brine via boreholes is treated as extraction with abstraction and discharge controls (Section B above), not as a mine. This applies specifically to class 08.93.

What to do next

With the consents in place and the safe-quarry spine operating, confirm the whole picture with the quarrying and mining compliance checklist. Start from the router if you are not sure which guides apply to you.