Prospecting rights for new areas of marine aggregate exploration are awarded by The Crown Estate through a commercial tendering process. Limited survey operations can be undertaken prior to tendering on a non-exclusive basis to allow applicants to define more precisely the potential of a given area.
The award of a successful tender provides the operator with exclusive prospecting rights over a defined area up to a maximum of 150km2. A minimum standard of prospecting survey investigation is defined as part of the tender process, including the need to obtain high quality data using a range of techniques. Those may include bathymetric and side scan sonar surveys, shallow seismic profiling, seabed surface and sub-surface sediment sampling. (Note – we will have visuals to demonstrate these techniques)
Subject to the identification of a commercially viable deposit, the applicant can then apply to The Crown Estate for a marine aggregate production licence. This will only be awarded subject to a successful application through the statutory regulations culminating in a dredging permission.
Techniques Seabed exploration is challenging. Surveying involves acoustic, seismic and seabed sampling techniques. Acoustic surveys provide a contoured image of the seabed surface that helps determine the type of material that forms the seabed. Seismic profiling data produces a cross-section of the seabed that enables us to understand how it was formed. Sampling provides essential information about processes occurring on the seabed and also the type and quality of the resources targeted.