It’s a material world - why minerals are vital for modern life

Although they’re an essential part of modern life, we rarely stop to think about minerals or where they come from.  

Minerals are in most of the everyday things around us — from buildings, roads, cars and computers to toothpaste, washing powder, cosmetics and cleaning products.

Not just rocks and precious stones, minerals cover a huge range of natural materials including sand, gravel, iron ore, oil, gas and clay.

Where are they?

Only found in certain areas, minerals are usually dug out of the ground. But because of factors such as planning restrictions to protect the environment, existing development and a lack of suitable roads, there are only a few areas where extraction is possible.  

Much of Hampshire is chalk, for which there is limited demand — the main minerals are sand and gravel in the south and south west, plus deposits of oil, gas and clay.

Sand and gravel are used mostly in aggregates for building and maintaining the homes, schools, businesses and infrastructure essential for Hampshire’s continued prosperity. As these materials are expensive to transport, they need to be sourced close to where they will be used.

This means that demand is mainly in the south and north east of the county where the majority of people live and where many businesses are located.

Hampshire’s emphasis on recycling and re-use reduces the need for new materials by using recycled aggregates where possible. A large amount of sand and gravel is also dredged from the sea, and crushed rock is imported by rail. But we still need to find more sand and gravel from the land (described as land-won) to meet government targets — our apportionment.

Our role

In partnership with Southampton and Portsmouth City Councils and the New Forest National Park Authority, the County Council is responsible for ensuring sufficient extraction and supply of minerals up to 2026.

We also have to ‘safeguard’ land containing mineral deposits to protect it from development, as well as making sure there are road, rail and sea facilities for importing and transporting minerals.  

The Government sets the amount of land-won sand and gravel that Hampshire has to produce each year as part of a regional target, which takes into account the amount of recycled aggregates and minerals dredged from the sea.

The County Council is working to balance the supply of sand and gravel with the need to protect Hampshire’s landscape and communities. This includes supporting the regional case for lower sand and gravel targets until 2026.

To find out more please visit the Hampshire Minerals Plan website.