Sands of Change: The Global Challenge of Sand Mining

Sand is one of the most important industrial raw materials on the planet and after water is the second most utilised resource on Earth.

Its global demand is due to its use in the dominant construction material of the modern world: concrete. Human mass migration to cities has led to rapid, ongoing urban growth fuelling an ever-increasing demand for construction raw materials including mineral sands. Estimates suggest a projected annual demand of 82 million tonnes per annum by 2060.

For many, sand is seen as a freely available, and easily extracted material, yet, when it is not adequately valued, supply can become inadequate to meet society’s needs, causing price fluctuations and shortages along with significant local and regional environmental impacts. In many places, this is a supply system that is either breaking down or has effectively already broken down.

Whilst on a local scale, illegal sand mining can provide employment and raw materials needed for development, unregulated mining has a considerable cumulative environmental impact. It often involves artisanal and small-scale mining operations, but also larger scale criminality involving cartels, sand “mafias” and associated conflict.

Geoscience can play a crucial role in the monitoring and management of both legal and illegal sand resources, including:

Understanding the location of deposits

Characterising the chemical and physical properties

Modelling the impacts of extraction

Understanding how we can reduce reliance on sand for a sustainable future

In this conference featuring experts from across the globe, we will explore the legal, environmental and management challenges of sand.

Participants include:

Dr Pascal Peduzzi – director of GRID-Geneva at the UN Environment Programme

Professor Julia Stegemann – founding director of CircEL, the UCL Circular Economy Laboratory

Dr Ian Selby – honorary research fellow, University of Leeds

Mark Russell – executive director, British Marine Aggregate Produces Association

Dr Christopher Hackney – senior lecturer, Newcastle University