Extraction of minerals (rock, metal ores, gravel, sand, shell)*

Mineral resources including metal ores, industrial minerals, etc., where relevant including depth/height information on the extent of the resource.

‘mineral resource’ or ‘mineral’ means a naturally occurring deposit in the earth's crust of an organic or inorganic substance, such as energy fuels, metal ores, industrial minerals and construction minerals, but excluding water.

In accordance with the objectives of Community policy on the environment, it is necessary to lay down minimum requirements in order to prevent or reduce as far as possible any adverse effects on the environment or on human health which are brought about as a result of the management of waste from the extractive industries, such as tailings (i.e. the waste solids or slurries that remain after the treatment of minerals by a number of techniques), waste rock and overburden (i.e. the material that extractive operations move during the process of accessing an ore or mineral body, including during the pre-production develo ...[+++]pment stage), and topsoil (i.e. the upper layer of the ground) provided that they constitute waste as defined in Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste

(a) raw materials such as minerals (including fossil energy carriers and metal ores) and biomass.

Fossil energy carriers, metal ores and other minerals (e.g. gypsum, china clay) are non-renewable in the sense that they can not be replenished within a human timeframe.