Definition of Minerals, Scheduled Minerals and Non Scheduled Minerals

• the agricultural surface of the ground
• turf or peat
• stone, sand, gravel or clay except for substances included in the schedule to the 1940 Act.

In practice this means that most quarries producing aggregates for the construction industry, agricultural lime or dimension stone, e.g. for buildings or grave stones are not working minerals and do not require any permits under the Minerals Development Acts.

The Petroleum Minerals Development Act 1960 established separate arrangements for regulation of petroleum exploration and development.  These are administered by the Petroleum Affairs Division (PAD)of the Department.

Scheduled Minerals:

The Schedule to the Minerals Development Act 1940, reproduced below, sets out a list of substances which are included in the definition of minerals but this list is not exhaustive.

LIST of SCHEDULED MINERALS in the MINERALS DEVELOPMENT ACT 1940

Non mineral substances

There are more than 400 quarries and sand and gravel pits in Ireland, which are estimated to be producing some 130 to 140 million tonnes of construction materials a year. The Quarry Directory prepared by GSI lists many of these operations.  With very few exceptions, they are extracting stone, gravel, sand or clay, which are not minerals as defined in the Minerals Development Acts. They are therefore, similarly to petroleum, outside the remit of the EMD. Regulation mainly falls under planning legislation.