Encyclopedia of Global Resources part 136 ppt

large enough to transport personnel, equipment, and
raw mined product. A raise, the opposite of a shaft, is
driven upward from the mineral deposit. Raises are
driven only in special situations, because they require
specialized machinery that can be operated in the
confines of an underground mine.
A slope is an opening driven into the mineral de-
posit at an angle. Slopes can be used for transportand
often containaconveyorbelt whichcanbe reversed to
allow haulage into and out of the mine. A drift mine is
the least expensive type, because the drift is a near-
horizontal opening driven into the mineraldeposit.If
a mineral deposit reaches the surface (outcrop), the
driven drift removes the mineral from the outset of
mining. Such a configuration is desirable but not of-
ten found in mineral exploration.
Room and Pillar
The types of underground mining methods are as nu-
merous as the special situations that may be encoun-
tered. Most methods, however, are highly mecha-
nized and assume the general classification of room
and pillar, stope and pillar, shrinkage stoping, and
sublevel caving.
Room and pillar mining provides the familiar
“checkerboard” pattern often associated with under-
ground mining, in which pillars provide roof support.
This method is used in obtaining relatively flat-lying,
tabular, and thin mineral deposits such as coal and
certain evaporates such as potash and trona. The pil-
lars are designed to optimize the percentage of coal
extracted without endangering the mine to prema-

ture roof failures. The extraction rate can vary from
25 percent to 65 percent of the coal in place.
Two basic forms of room and pillar mining are
called conventional and continuous mining. Conven-
tional mining refers to the use of mobile equipment
arranged to complete a cycle of cutting the coal, drill-
ing and blasting with explosives, loading, hauling,
and roof support. At least five working places are re-
quired for smooth operations. Although conventional
room and pillar mining is still practiced in small min-
ing operations, it has mostly been replaced by contin-
uous miningtechniques. Continuous mining refersto
the use of a continuous miner, a large machine which
essentially removes the mineral using tungsten car-
bide bits mounted on a ripper or boring configura-
tion. The continuous miner replaces the coal cutter,
coal drill, explosives, and loading machine in the con
-
ventional mining configuration, needing only a roof
support machine to provide a total mining operation.
In room and pillar mining, pillars can be extracted
later in the life of the mine, increasing the recovery of
minerals to more than 70 percent.
Stope and Pillar
“Stope” is a mining term for an artificialexcavation in
an underground mineral deposit. Stope and pillar
mining issimilarto room and pillarmining but is used
in hard-rock deposits, sometimes in a sloping deposit.
The pillars are usually random-sized and irregularly
shaped, with their location more dependent on being

in low-grade ore than on a systematic, invariant plan.
Pillars are relatively small because they are made of
rock and are extremely strong. Pillar recovery, com-
mon in room and pillar mining, is almost unknown in
stope and pillar mining.
Shrinkage Stoping
Shrinkage stoping has faded from popularity but was
a very popular hard-rock mining technique during
the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
In its simplest form, a shrinkage stope is an under-
ground cavity between two raises where the mineral
deposit is removed overhand, and the broken mate-
rial falls to form the floor of the cavity and supports
continued mining activity as the mining progresses
upward. Because the broken material “swells” over its
volume as a solid material, a certain amount must be
drawn off through chutes at the bottom of the stope,
or “shrinkage.” When the stope has reached its verti-
cal limit, all the broken mineral can be drawn off and
processed.
Shrinkage stoping, like all mining methods, has its
advantages and disadvantages. It requires that 60 per-
cent of the broken mineral be retained as a floor for
the mine and supportof theopening being excavated
but affords storage capacity and an opportunity to
control the withdrawn mined material.
Sublevel Caving
Sublevel caving is used invertical or near-verticalmin-
eral deposits and, like shrinkage stoping, uses gravity
as a conveyor of the broken mineral. It is also a safe

mining method because no personnel work in the
mined area. All mining is done from the safety of
raises adjacent to the mined area, and long boreholes
are drilled into the mineral deposit for blasting the
material into chutes located below the mined area.
Drilling accuracy is critical to this mining method, be
-
1256 • Underground mining Global Resources
cause errant drill holes can stray outside the mineral
deposit, and incomplete fragmentation from blasting
can cause the mineral to stick in the chutes and re-
quire expensive and dangerous removal using explo-
sives.
A specialized form of caving used in coal mining is
called longwall mining. A longwall is created between
two series of excavated rooms about 240 meters apart.
An excavator continually shears the coal across the
longwall until the block of coal is removed. These
blocks of coal are frequently close to 2 kilometers in
length. Longwall mining originated in Europe in the
seventeenth century and accounts for nearly 100 per-
cent of the coal mined outside the United States. The
method gained popularity in the United States begin-
ning in the 1960’s. Its recent popularity has increased
through the use of self-advancing hydraulic supports,
armored conveyors, continuous mining machines,
and roof control and caving technology developed
from sound rock mechanics principles. Longwall min-
ing will almost certainly continue to be a popular
worldwide coal-mining technique.

Rock Mechanics
Underground mining employs a highly specialized
discipline called rock mechanics. Rock mechanics
studies the failure criteria for rock masses, even heter-
ogeneous and already fractured masses. Its value lies
in the design ofunderground openings that will allow
the maximum amount of material to be excavated
while providing support against collapse of the open-
ing. Its applications range from small-hole drilling to
large excavations. Modern rock mechanics uses finite
element analysis forpredicting the type of rockfailure
expected, and when processed interactively by digital
computers, it can accurately predict how and when a
network of underground openings will fail.
The Underground Mining Environment
The underground miner is faced with a potentially
hazardous environment. As mining depth increases,
so does rock stress and temperature, so at great depth
the mine environmentmay be extremely hot and rock
failure problematic. In addition, potentially toxic gases
and dusts may be prevalent. For example, uranium
mining poses a radioactivity hazard to miners, which
varies with the purity of the deposit. Dusts and gases
from blasting activity are introduced into the mining
environment. In some coal mines, the emission of
methane, a potentially explosive gas, is inevitable and
the gas must be continuously removed before and
during mining operations.
Federal and state regulations concerning mine
health and safetyhavebeen continuous over the twen-

tieth century and have resulted in a dramatic reduc-
tion in underground mining mishaps. Foremost
among these are regulations dealing with the mine at-
mosphere, where dust and ventilation air specifica-
tions guarantee a healthy work environment. Where
mine temperatures are above comfortable working
conditions, the ventilation air is either dehumidified
and cooled or the mining personnel work for shorter
intervals with frequent breaks in air-conditioned ar-
eas underground.
Dust has been a continual problem in underground
mining. Its generation is particularly prevalent in
modern mining practices such as longwall mining,
and it is also endemic to the production of the fine-
sized product in demand by the power industry. Cer-
tain dusts have beenfound to cause long-termhuman
disabilities such as black lungdisease (from coal dust)
and silicosis (from finely ground sandstones). The
coal mining industry has paid hundreds of millions
of dollars into funds to support victims of these dis-
abilities. The dust menace has also been countered
through the use of respirators by personnel exposed
to dusty environments and with atomizing water sprays
for allaying dusts at the point of production.
The number of underground mines worldwide de-
creased in the twentieth century, but output from the
remaining and newly created mines increased be-
cause of improved efficiency.
The future of underground mining will depend on
finding and developing remaining commercial min-

eral resources in remote parts of the world and ex-
tracting material from greater depths in the Earth’s
crust. Extraction techniques involving robotics and
other modern technologies will be necessary to sup-
port such ventures. As environmental regulations
place greater burdens on surface mining worldwide,
underground mining is likely to see a revival.
Charles D. Haynes
Further Reading
Bell, Fred J., and Laurance J. Donnelly. “Longwall
Mining and Subsidence.” In Mining and Its Impact
on theEnvironment. New York: Taylor& Francis, 2006.
Brady, B. H. G., and E. T. Brown. Rock Mechanics: For
Underground Mining. 3d ed. Boston: Kluwer Aca
-
demic, 2004.
Global Resources Underground mining • 1257
Hartman, Howard L., ed. SME Mining Engineering
Handbook. 2d ed. Littleton, Colo.: Society for
Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, 1992.
Hartman, Howard L., and Jan M. Mutmansky. Intro-
ductory Mining Engineering. 2d ed. Hoboken, N.J.:
J. Wiley, 2002.
Hustrulid, William A., and Richard L. Bullock, eds.
Underground Mining Methods: Engineering Fundamen-
tals and International Case Studies. Littleton, Colo.:
Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration,
2001.
Tatiya, Ratan Raj. Surface and Underground Excavations:
Methods, Techniques, and Equipment. London: A. A.

Balkema, 2005.
Web Site
U.S. Geological Survey
Mining and Quarrying
/>commodity/m&q
See also: Coal; General Mining Law; Mining safety
and health issues; Open-pit mining; Quarrying; Strip
mining.
United Kingdom
Categories: Countries; government and resources
The United Kingdom has a greater role in the world
economy as an importer of raw materials than it does
as a provider of resources. Its two primary exportable
resources have been oil and natural gas. It was a net
exporter of both oil and natural gas until 2005.
The Country
The United Kingdom, which includes England, Scot-
land, Wales, and Northern Ireland, is located to the
north of western continental Europe. The North At-
lantic Ocean lies to the west and north, the North Sea
to the east, and the English Channelto the south. The
United Kingdom has a varied terrain with mountains,
hills, highlands, moors, and lowlands. It has an abun-
dance of lakes and rivers including the Thames, the
Mersey, and the Tyne. Great Britain has many deep
harbors along its coastlines, which have playedimpor
-
tant roles in the country’s economic prosperity, as
these harbors are ideal for shipping. The United
Kingdom is a founding member of the North Atlantic

Treaty Organization (NATO) and a member of the
European Union. However, the country is not a mem-
ber of the European Economic and Monetary Union
(the EU nations that have agreed to share asinglecur-
rency, the euro).
In 2008, the United Kingdom was the second larg-
est economy in the European Union and ranked
fourth in size of economy in the world. The United
Kingdom is a major trading power and has a market-
based economy. London is the financial center in the
world. According to 2008 estimates, the United King-
dom ranked seventh in the world in purchasing power
parity. In international trading, the United Kingdom
ranked tenth as an exporting country and seventh as
an importer. The United Kingdom is the fourth larg-
est export market for the United States and ranks
sixth among the countries from which the United
States imports goods. TheUnited Kingdom is theonly
European Union member that is a significant ex-
porter of energy. The United Kingdom’s major trad-
ing partners are the United States, European Union
member countries, and China.
Coal
Coal is a fossil fuel mined in the United Kingdom in
both deep-shaft underground mines and open-cast
mines. The United Kingdom has coal reserves of ap-
proximately 400 million metric tons. The coal re-
serves at the Firth of Forth, Scotland, are one of the
largest exploitable reserves in Western Europe. They
are estimated at 42 million metric tons. Coal seams

have also been discovered in the Jurassic Brent Delta
sands in the North Sea. At one time, coal was one
of the major resources that established the United
Kingdom as a significant economic power. However,
coal mining in the United Kingdom began declining
around 1970. There are several reasons for this de-
cline. Imported coal can be purchased more cheaply
than the domestically mined coal, and the coal found
in the United Kingdom has a higher sulfur and ash
content, which causes it to emit large amounts of
greenhouse gases, especially sulfur dioxide, when it is
burned. There is also an influential and powerful en-
vironmental movement in the United Kingdom for
the complete elimination of coal as a fuel source.
In 1970, the coal mines in the United Kingdom
produced more than 120 million metric tons of coal.
Of this amount, 107 millionmetrictons were from un
-
derground mines. In contrast, in 2006, the amount of
1258 • United Kingdom Global Resources
Global Resources United Kingdom • 1259
United Kingdom: Resources at a Glance
Official name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland
Government: Constitutional monarchy and Commonwealth realm
Capital city: London
Area: 94,027 mi
2
; 243,510 km
2

Population (2009 est.): 61,113,205
Language: English
Monetary unit: British pound sterling (GBP)
Economic summary:
GDP composition by sector (2008 est.): agriculture, 1.3%; industry, 24.2%; services, 74.5%
Natural resources: coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin, limestone, dolomite, salt, clay, chalk,
gypsum, potash, silica sand, slate, arable land
Land use (2005): arable land, 23.23%; permanent crops, 0.2%; other, 76.57%
Industries: machine tools, electric power equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding,
aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal,
petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, other consumer goods
Agricultural products: cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables, cattle, sheep, poultry, fish
Exports (2008 est.): $464.9 billion
Commodities exported: manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals, food, beverages, tobacco
Imports (2008 est.): $636 billion
Commodities imported: manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, foodstuffs
Labor force (2008 est.): 31.23 million
Labor force by occupation (2006 est.): agriculture, 1.4%; industry, 18.2%; services, 80.4%
Energy resources:
Electricity production (2007 est.): 371 billion kWh
Electricity consumption (2006 est.): 348.5 billion kWh
Electricity exports (2007 est.): 3.398 billion kWh
Electricity imports (2007 est.): 8.613 billion kWh
Natural gas production (2007 est.): 72.3 billion m
3
Natural gas consumption (2007 est.): 91.1 billion m
3
Natural gas exports (2007 est.): 10.4 billion m
3
Natural gas imports (2007 est.): 29.2 billion m

3
Natural gas proved reserves ( Jan. 2008 est.): 412 billion m
3
Oil production (2007 est.): 1.69 million bbl/day
Oil imports (2005): 1.673 million bbl/day
Oil proved reserves ( Jan. 2008 est.): 3.6 billion bbl
Source: Data from The World Factbook 2009. Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency, 2009.
Notes: Data are the most recent tracked by the CIA. Values are given in U.S. dollars. Abbreviations: bbl/day = barrels per day;
GDP = gross domestic product; km
2
= square kilometers; kWh = kilowatt-hours; m
3
= cubic meters; mi
2
= square miles.
London
Wales
Scotland
Northern
Ireland
France
Belgium
Ireland
United
Kingdom
North
Sea
Atlantic
Ocean
coal extracted from underground mines had fallen to

a little more than 9.4 million metric tons. At this time,
there was some increase in the amount of coal from
open-cast mines, but the amount of coal produced
by open-cast mines has since decreased. The largest
reduction in coal consumption has been in the in-
dustrial sector. In 2003, coal was the source of only 3
percent of total energy consumption (industrial, resi-
dential, and final use) in the United Kingdom. The
use of coal experienced a brief renewal in 2006 be-
cause of the high prices of oil and gas. The demand
for coal in the United Kingdom was 52 million metric
tons; however, only 17 million metric tons were do-
mestic coal. The major drawback to coal as an energy
source is the large amount of pollutants that it pro-
duces and emits into the atmosphere. The United
Kingdom is investigating means of trapping carbon
dioxide emissions and making coal a cleaner-burning
fuel in order to make its use compatible with the envi-
ronmental standards of the European Union and
those established in the Kyoto Protocol. In 2009, the
government approved the installation of four coal-
fired power plants on condition that they be equipped
to trap carbon dioxide emissions and store them un-
derground. Using coal deposits as a source for coal,
gas is also a possible means of utilizing the coal re-
serves. This process would also extend the life of
the coal reserves, making the United Kingdom self-
sufficient in coal reserves for two to four hundred
years. Underground coal gasification (UCG) has also
been used in the United Kingdom. The procedure in-

jects a mixture of steam and oxygen down a borehole,
by which gas is extracted from the coal andbrought to
the surface. Concern exists that UCG may cause con-
tamination of underground water supplies in on-
shore locations and collapse of the burned-out coal
seams both on and off shore. Therefore, extensive re-
search and feasibility studies are under way to select
suitable sites. Several areas in the United Kingdom
have been identified as suitable for UCG. Also, the
United Kingdom has been involved in studies to use
gasification to extract coal gas from the coal found in
the southern North Sea.
Oil
Oil, the liquid form of petroleum, is an important nat-
ural resource for the United Kingdom, a country that
accounts for approximately one-half of the oil pro
-
duced in Europe. The United Kingdom has the great
-
est amount of oil reserves of any of the members of
the European Union. In 2006, the United Kingdom
had 4 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves. The
majority of these reserves are located in the North
Sea. The greatest oil reserves in the North Sea are in
the United Kingdom continental shelf. However, sig-
nificant oil reserves also exist north of the Shetland
Islands. Additional, although smaller, reserves are in
the North Atlantic. The United Kingdom also has a
significant onshore reserve located at Wytch Farm
field. Theestimatefor recoverable oil reserves there is

480 million barrels. This is the largest onshore oil de-
posit in Europe.
Most of the oil reserves of the United Kingdom
were discovered in the 1970’s. Production reached its
peak by 1999 and declined afterward. In 2005,oilpro-
duction in the United Kingdom had declined by 37
percent from that of 1999. In response to this situa-
tion, oil companies began using new technology to
increase production at existing fields, and smaller
deposits have been exploited. Although the United
Kingdom continues to experience a decline in oil re-
serves and in oil production, in 2008 the country
ranked twenty-ninth in proven oil reserves and nine-
teenth in oil production in the world. In exports and
imports of oil, the United Kingdom ranked four-
teenth and thirteenth, respectively. The major coun-
tries to which the United Kingdom exports oil are
the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, and
France.
Natural Gas
Natural gas is a fossil fuel. It is a mixture of hydrocar-
bon gases; methane is the primary gas. Natural gas is
combustible. When natural gas is burned, it emits a
smaller amount of environmentally harmful pollut-
ants than either coal or oil. In 2007, the United King-
dom was the tenth largest producer of natural gas in
the world. The country was the nineteenth largest ex-
porter and the eleventh largest importer of natural
gas. In total consumption of natural gas, the country
ranked eighth in the world. As of 2008, the United

Kingdom’s proven reserves of natural gas were 412
billion cubic meters, giving the country a rank of
thirty-fourth in the world in proven natural gas re-
serves. The major natural gas reserves are located in
the North Sea, particularly in the Shearwater-Elgin
area of the SouthernGas Basin. The natural gas in the
North Sea was discovered in 1967. There are also nat
-
ural gas deposits in the Irish Sea.
Natural gas has become a vital domestic source of
1260 • United Kingdom Global Resources
energy because it plays an important role in the pro
-
duction of electricity and is used extensively as a
source of energy in industry. It is replacing coal as the
fuel of choice for power stations. Beginning with the
move to privatization of company ownership in 1979,
private companies have been in charge of the United
Kingdom’s domestic gas sector. There are four pipe-
lines that transport natural gas from the offshore
fields into the country for distribution. There is one
major pipeline, the Interconnector, which facilitates
the import and export of natural gas between the
United Kingdom and continental Europe.
Potash
Potash is used primarily in making fertilizers; it is pro-
duced from various potassium compounds in which
the potassium is water soluble, including potassium
carbonate and potassium oxide. Potash is produced
either from underground mines, which are the most

common, or from solution mining. It is then milled
and refined in processing plants that separate the po-
tassium chloride from the halite (salt) and process it
into potash. In the United Kingdom, approximately
one-half of the potash is mined at the Boulby Mine lo-
cated on the North York Moors. The mine, operated
by the Cleveland Potash Company, is 1,400 meters
deep and islocatedin the Zechstein basin. It is thesec-
ond deepest mine in Europe. The potash mined at
Boulby is all from sylvinite (potassium chloride and
halite mechanically bound together). The mine has a
production capacity of one million metric tons per
year.
Salt
Rock salt, also called halite, is formed in large crystals
in deep mines. In the United Kingdom, there are
three mines where rock salt is commercially mined.
They are located at Winsford, Cheshire, England; at
Boulby in North Yorkshire, England; and at Kilroot
near Carrickfergus in County Antrim, Northern Ire-
land. Thereare two methods usedformining rock salt
in the U.K. mines: cut-and-blast mining and continu-
ous mining. Both methods use a “room and pillar”
mine layout. As the name implies, the salt is removed
in such a fashion that large salt pillars are left in place
to support the ceilings and large rooms are created.
The salt produced by the mines is commonly called
“grit.” It is used to deice roads in winter. The mine at
Winsford is the largest mine and, according to Salt
Union Ltd., which operates the mine, the oldest mine

still in operation in the United Kingdom. The rock
salt mine is a deep mine where the mining opera-
tions are carried out at more than 150 meters under-
ground. The mine annually produces approximately
one million metric tons of salt. The salt produced at
the Boulby mine is a by-product of its potash mining
activity.
Clays
Industrial minerals are a group of minerals that are
used in the manufacturing industry, in construction,
and in agriculture. Both raw materials and chemical
feedstocks arederived from them.Theclays are anim-
portant part of the nonmetallic minerals produced in
the United Kingdom and include ball clay, fire clay,
brick clay, and ceramic clay. In the United Kingdom,
brick clay is used extensively for building; fire clay is
the primary material used in roof tiles and drainage
pipes; ceramic clay as the name implies is used in the
production of ceramics.
Ball clay is one of the most important clays both
internationally and domestically. It is used in making
whiteware ceramic, which includes sanitary ware. De-
posits of ball clay in the United Kingdom are rela-
tively scarce. The largest deposits are found in the
Waresham basin of East Dorset. There are also small
deposits in two areas close to Devon. There are strict
restrictions on mining in the Waresham basin, since
it is also a major area of conservation of habitat, espe-
cially for birds. In 2003, the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister undertook a study to establish possi-

ble guidelines for maintaining the area as a conserva-
tion district while continuing to mine there.
Limestone, Chalk, Dolomite
Limestone, chalk, and dolomite and are all sedimen-
tary rock primarily composed of calcium carbonate
(CaCO
3
). The amount of magnesium carbonate con-
tained in the rock determinesits classification aslime-
stone or dolomite. Chalk is fine-grained limestone.
Most limestone also containssome impurities, includ-
ing sand, clay, and iron. Most industrial-quality lime-
stone has small amounts of impurities; however, de-
pending upon the use for which the limestone is
intended, certain impurities are not only desirable
but necessary.
The primary use of limestone in the United King-
dom is in construction. Limestone is used as a build
-
ing stone and as a raw material in making cement.
Limestone used in industry and agriculture is re
-
Global Resources United Kingdom • 1261
ferred to as industrial limestone. This limestone has a
wide variety of uses. It is used in the manufacture of
iron, steel, and glass; in sugar refining; and in several
chemical processes. In agriculture, the primary use of
limestone is to make lime by calcination of the lime-
stone so that it can be used as fertilizer. The United
Kingdom produces 2.5 millionmetrictonsof lime per

year. Each metric ton of lime produced requires the
calcination of approximately 1.7 metric tons of lime-
stone. Tunstead Quarry at Derbyshire is the major
producer of lime and chemical stone,a form of quick-
lime, used in industry in the United Kingdom.
In 2004, the United Kingdom produced 82 million
metric tons of limestone and 8.5 million metric tons
of chalk. The majority of the limestone was used in
construction. Cement making accounted for another
9.5 millionmetric tons. Industryused6 million metric
tons, and only 9.2 million metric tons were used in ag-
riculture. The largest amount of the chalk produced
was used in cement making. Industrial useof chalk ac-
counted for 2.1 million metric tons. The total agricul-
tural and industrial use off limestone and chalk was
approximately 9.1 percent of the total amount pro-
duced. The domestic market is the major market for
limestone, buttheUnited Kingdom doesexportsome
limestone.
Dolomite is used much like limestone. Its primary
use is inconstruction, where it is often usedinplace of
limestone. Approximately 89 percent of the dolomite
used in the United Kingdom is used in construction.
Industrial dolomite is used in making iron, steel, and
glass. While dolomite continues to be important in its
calcinated form in the manufacture of glass,newtech-
niques in iron and steel manufacturing have reduced
its use and, consequently, the demand for industrial
dolomite has decreased. Dolomite, both calcinated
and raw, is used in the making of aglime, which farm-

ers used to reduce soil acidity. Almost all of the dolo-
mite quarried in the United Kingdom comes fromthe
Permian deposits in Durham, Derbyshire, and South
Yorkshire. The United Kingdom is a net importer of
dolomite; its import partners are Norway and Spain.
The dolomite imported is of the quality needed for
glassmaking; it is high in purity and low in iron. Ex-
ports include both agricultural dolomite and cal-
cinated dolomite to the Republic of Ireland, the Côte
d’Ivoire, the Netherlands, Germany, and Turkey. The
calcinated dolomite exported to Turkey and Ger
-
many is used to make refractory bricks that are no
longer made in the United Kingdom.
Other Resources
Although the United Kingdom has a large variety of
minerals, few of them are mined. There is some min-
ing of tin and lead in deep mines in Scotland, En-
gland, and Wales. A small quantity of silver, found in
combination with lead, is mined. Zinc, tin, iron ore,
and copper are all produced in small quantities.
The coaldepositsof north-central England andthe
iron ore deposits of the Pennines area played an im-
portant role in the country’s early industrialization.
Iron-ore productioninthePennines area has virtually
ceased, although there is still a small amount of iron
ore mined in other regions. Tin mining was an impor-
tant industry in England until after World War II. The
last of the tin mines in Cornwall was closed in 1998;
however, with the development of new excavation

techniques, the mine was reopened in 2001.
Shawncey Webb
Further Reading
Gluyas, J. G., and H. M. Hichens, eds. The United King-
dom Oil and Gas Fields—Commemorative Millennium
Volume Twenty. London: The Geological Society of
London, 2002.
Higman, Christopher, and Maarten van der Burgt.
Gasification. 2ded. Boston: GulfProfessional, 2008.
Mackie, Bill. The Oilmen: The North Sea Tigers. Edin-
burgh: Birlinn, 2005.
Thorsheim, Peter. Inventing Pollution: Coal, Smoke, and
Culture in Britain Since 1800. Athens: Ohio Univer-
sity Press, 2006.
Williams, Alan, et al. Combustion and Gasification of
Coal. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2000.
Wylie, Andrew. Just Being There: With Bears and Tigers in
the NorthSea. Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press,
2006.
See also: Clays; Coal; Lime; Limestone; Oil and natu-
ral gas reservoirs; Potash; Salt.
United Nations climate change
conferences
Category: Historical events and movements
Since 1995, the United Nations has sponsored numer
-
ous conferences to address climate change. Conferences
involve participantsand representatives fromhundreds
1262 • U.N. climate change conferences Global Resources
of nations, nongovernmental organizations, and the

worldwide media. Products of these conferences have
lasting effects on international and national environ-
mental policies and create foundations for future efforts
to diminish human contribution to climate change.
Background
Greenhouse gases constitute what is called a “global
negative externality.” Greenhouse gases are by-prod-
ucts ofnumerous economic activitiesaswell as natural
processes. When an individual or firm creates a nega-
tive externality, the negative by-products of their ac-
tions are not incorporated into their costs of produc-
tion. Instead, they externalize these costs onto the
global society.
Since 1995, the United Nations has sponsored con-
ferences that educate the world on these issues and
also propose methods for addressing climate change.
As the world addresses the negative externalities asso-
ciated with the emission of greenhouse gases, the pro-
duction of resources that emit greenhouse gasses
becomes more expensive, allowing people to substi-
tute fewer carbon-intensive goods and services. In
short, many of these policies work to set a price on the
emission of greenhouse gases so individuals and firms
will not externalize these costs onto society.
Partners of the U.N. efforts on climate change in-
clude the World Meteorological Organization, the
World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the
World Health Organization, and more than thirty
other organizations. The United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) defines

climate change as “a change of climate which is at-
tributed directly or indirectly to human activity that
alters the composition of the global atmosphere and
which is in addition to natural climate variability
observed over comparable time periods” (UNFCC,
Article 1).
In most cases, climate change refers to the impact
of greenhouse gases on climatic processes as well as
alterations in the global carbon cycle. Greenhouse
gases—which include carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides,
ozone, methane, and water vapor—trap solar radia-
tion and are increasing global temperatures. Human
emissions of greenhouse gases, especially as by-prod-
ucts of the combustion of fossil fuels, have enhanced
this process.Many of thegoodsand services produced
by industrialized nations have depended on the emis
-
sion of greenhouse gases. The United Nations has
played a key role in advancing the international dia
-
log on this environmental topic of global scale. In
2008, more than forty conferences and conventions
were held worldwide in conjunction with the United
Nations’ work on climate change.
The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) was established in 1988 by theWorld Meteoro-
logical Organization andthe United Nations Environ-
ment Programme to assess and present “scientific,

technical and socioeconomic information relevant for
the understanding of climate change, itspotential im-
pacts and optionsfor adaptation and mitigation.” The
IPCC wasthe recipient ofa Nobel PeacePrizein 2007.
Three different working groups within the IPCC
address the following topics related to climate change:
Global Resources U.N. climate change conferences • 1263
A man looks up at an image of Earth on display at the 2008 U.N.
Climate Change Conference. (AFP/Getty Images)
the physical basis of climate change, impacts, adapta
-
tion and vulnerability, and mitigation of climate
change. A fusion of the three groups is produced in
Assessment Reports. All reports include summaries
for policy makers and are presented at their individ-
ual conferences, held annually. As of 2009, four IPCC
Assessment Reports had been made public (1990,
1995, 2001, and2007),in addition to several technical
papers on climate-change topics. Each official assess-
ment combines the efforts of between one hundred
and two hundred professionals and is headed by two
scientists, representing one developed and one devel-
oping country. More experts areinvolved in reviewing
the drafts of IPCC reports before they are submitted.
IPCC does not make recommendations on policy.
The IPCC publication Sixteen Years of Scientific Assess-
ment in Support of the Climate Convention states the phi-
losophy it supports:
To be effective, science must adapt, too, by continuing
to review research needs and enhancing the central

core integrative science in the communication and
management tools developed with decision makers.
United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change
The IPCC’sFirstAssessment Reportserved as the foun-
dation for the formation of the United Nations Frame-
work Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The convention’s aim is to prevent human interven-
tion with the Earth’s climate systems in ways that
would cause or allow dangerous situations.
The text of the UNFCCC was adopted in 1992 and
was open for signatures that year in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. (Two other conventions were also adopted at
that global meeting: theConvention on Biological Di-
versity and the Convention to Combat Desertifica-
tion). Asof2007, the United NationsFrameworkCon-
vention on Climate Change had 192 instruments of
ratification from countries around the world. Under
the UNFCCC, countries are divided into Annex I,
non-Annex I, and Annex II parties, depending upon
the level of the member country’s development. The
United States, for example, is considered an Annex I
country. Intermittent conferences for member na-
tions of Annex I, non-Annex I, and Annex II parties
are platforms for reporting of greenhouse-gas inven-
tories, as well as funding sources (for non-Annex I
parties) for implementation and compliance with the
UNFCCC. The Global Environment Facility (GEF)
oversees financial assistance to developing countries
committed to the goals of the UNFCCC.

The highest decision-making authority for the con-
vention is called the Conference of the Parties (COP).
The COP has numerous responsibilities: keeping cli-
mate change efforts on track, reviewing implementa-
tion, and examining commitments with respect to the
convention’s objectives, the latest science, and real-
world experiences. Subsidiary bodies of the conven-
tion include the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and
Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary
Body for Implementation (SBI) as well as the Ad Hoc
Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex
I parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG).
The Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocolis the world’s firstclimatetreaty. It
is an international and legally binding agreement to
reduce greenhouse-gas emissions worldwide. It was
signed in Kyoto, Japan, and tookeffect on February16,
2005. The total number of countries that had signed
the protocol by 2009 was 189, including the United
States, although as of 2010 the United States had not
ratified the Kyoto Protocol. The development of the
agreement stemmed from discussions at the 1992 Rio
Earth Summit, sponsored by the UNFCCC. The pro-
tocol’s main commitment is to reduce greenhouse-
gas emissions by Annex I countries (industrialized na-
tions)—specifically carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous
oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons, and
perfluorocarbons—to average target levels of 5.2 per-
cent below 1990 levels. Non-Annex I countries do not
have specific targets but do have incentives for reduc-

ing emissions. TheKyotoProtocol is viewed as the first
step in reducing carbon emissions and thereby reduc-
ing the world’s contribution to climate change. The
year 2012 was designated to mark the end of the first
phase of the protocol; the second phase of Kyoto was
to begin in 2013 and run until 2017, although many
nations supported a longer time frame.
While the Kyoto Protocolsetabinding target for the
reduction of greenhouse gases, it put in place several
other mechanisms to address climate change, includ-
ing emissions trading, the Clean Development Mech-
anism (CDM), andjoint implementation. These mech-
anisms gave countries a host of options for meeting
their targets for emission reductions, providing flexi-
bility inhow such reductionscould be implemented.
First, the Kyoto Protocol’s mechanisms make
greenhouse-gas-emitting goods and services costlier,
1264 • U.N. climate change conferences Global Resources
thus incentivizing the creation of more efficient alter
-
natives and a transition from the dependence on fos-
sil fuels to renewable energy sources.
Emissions trading allows countries that contribute
fewer emissions than their set targets to sell to other
countries their excess “right” toemit.This, in essence,
sets a price on emissions using market mechanisms. If
most countries find it difficult to meet targets, the
price for the right to emit additional greenhouse
gases will be high. If most countries emit below their
targeted levels, the price will be low. This market

mechanism sets the total emissions, in other words,
but allows for flexibility for individual countries. As
the price of emission increases, individuals and firms
will seek alternative technologies as they attempt to
minimize their costs of production.
Second, the CDMaimsat reducing emissions. While
the Kyoto Protocol does not set emissions standards
for developingcountries,the CDM allows fordevelop-
ing countries to host projects such as wind farming,
which can then be underwritten by developed coun-
tries. The developed countries then gain credit for
their sponsorship. Projects in India, Brazil, and China
have made up the majority of emissionssavings, with a
projected statistic of keeping more than 1.8 billion
metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the
Earth’s atmosphere. The CDM thus creates an indi-
rect method for incentivizing clean energy develop-
ment in the developing world. Because a majority of
the world’s population lives in developing countries,
this increases their access to renewable energy sources
rather than fossil fuels.
The last mechanism, joint implementation, gives
countries the opportunity to reduce emissions by
funding projects in other Annex I countries. Coun-
tries that fund these projects then receive credits that
apply toward their emissions. Joint implementation
allows countries to implement emission reductions in
locations where implementation costs are lower. The
global impact does not differ, but the location of im-
pact does.

The Copenhagen Conference
In December, 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark, hosted
the fifteenth United Nations climate change confer-
ence, or Conference of the Parties (COP 15). Ques-
tions regarding levels of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse-gas emissions, time frames for change,
types of commitments, and escalating concerns re
-
garding enforcement of policies were discussed.
The product of COP 15, the Copenhagen Accords,
reaffirmed the goals of the Kyoto Protocol, asserted
a “strong political will to urgently combat climate
change in accordance with the principle of common
but differentiated responsibilities and respective ca-
pabilities,” set a goal of limiting global temperature
increase to no more than 2° Celsius, acknowledged
the impact of global warming on “countries particu-
larly vulnerable to its adverse effects” (developing
nations implied), reiterated the need for interna-
tional cooperationandaction, called upon developed
nations to “provide adequate, predictable, and sustain-
able financial resources, technology, and capacity-
building to support the implementation of adapta-
tion action in developing countries,” and agreed to
set emissions targets for 2020, to be submitted by the
end of January, 2010. However, not all of the nations
attending the conference agreed to the so-called ac-
cords.
Critics were disappointed not only in the dissonant
and at times chaotic tenor of the meetings but also in

conference’s failure to secure a legally binding agree-
ment and its delay of setting emissions targets. The
meetings were also dominated by intense debates and
disagreements between representatives of developing
and developed nations, the former blaming industri-
alized countries for emitting the lion’s share of green-
house gases that had brought the world to the brink
of unstoppable climate warming. As U.S. president
Barack Obama put it after the conclusion of the talks,
“We’ve come a long way but we have much further to
go.” European Union Commission president stated
the concerns of critics more directly: “I will not hide
my disappointment regarding the nonbinding nature
of the agreement here.” Clearly, the overwhelming
task of reaching consensus on and commitment to
the actions thatneed to be taken tostaunch anthropo-
genic contributions to global warming underscored
the conflicting political, economic, and social inter-
ests of the world’s diverse nations.
Joelle D. Godwin
Further Reading
Friedlingstein, Pierre. “A Steep Road to Climate Sta-
bilization.” Nature 451, no. 7176 (January, 2008):
297-298.
Henson, Robert. The Rough Guide to Climate Change.
London: Rough Guides, 2008.
Howden, S. Mark, et al. “Adapting Agriculture to Cli
-
mate Change.” Proceedings of the National Academy of
Global Resources U.N. climate change conferences • 1265