Our understanding of the inferred mineral resources of aggregates,
industrial minerals and metalliferous ores in the shallow
subsurface (down to 100m) is relatively good. However, outside
sedimentary basins with potential for coal, oil and gas, infrequent
deep borehole information and the virtual absence of seismic line
data mean that our knowledge of resources in the deeper subsurface
of the UK below 100m is variable but generally poor
(Whittaker, 1985).