A Whole-site First-assessment Toolkit for combined Mineral Resource and Archaeological assessment in Sand and Gravel deposits

Ground investigations are essential components of site assessment for both mineral resources, and archaeological remains. The techniques used for both mineral and archaeological assessment are often similar. Since investigations for both purposes must be performed in areas of potential mineral resource, and there is considerable overlap between them, there are potential benefits to mineral operators, heritage protection, and the planning process, in developing a systematic integrated approach to these investigations. It is important to remember that both mineral deposit and archaeology occupy essentially the same physical space, broadly defined as the soil layer. The project has been timely in relation to the very recent emergence of commercial availability of both airborne, and ground geophysical high resolution survey methods. The project team have the combined expertise in the separate new methodologies and data integration. They also have experience of the current practice in extractive industry, heritage protection and planning to assess critically the value of the information gained using the proposed methods. The project two example sites, at Sturton-le-Steeple and Shelford, both in the Trent valley. Both sites combine the presence of a known aggregate resource with known archaeological remains, as well as being part of a populated and worked landscape, with issues such as soil quality, hydrogeology and bio-diversity to be considered.