Release of over 500 Scottish abandoned-mine plans 

Digital scans of over 500 historical plans of abandoned mines (non-coal) have been released by the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) as part of BGS’s commitment to providing more open, accessible data for its users.   

In the late 1800s, the Coal Mines Regulation Act and Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act created the statutory requirement for the deposition of plans of abandoned mines by mine owners to the Secretary of State. In 1980, the BGS Edinburgh office was appointed as the statutory place of deposit for plans of abandoned non-coal and oil shale mines in Scotland. These plans have been preserved and managed by the NGDC, which is NERC’s Environmental Data Service designated geoscience data centre that is hosted by BGS. NGDC collects and preserves geoscientific data and information, making them available for the long term to a wide range of users and communities.

To reflect the BGS’s commitment to more open, accessible data for its users, the decision was taken to make scans of these non-coal mine abandoned plans digitally accessible to the public. This decision comes at an important time when there is increased interest in the potential of mine water for developing geothermal energy technologies. Having these plans openly accessible means they can be used in desk-based studies for those working in the public and private sectors doing site investigations, hazard assessments or further academic research. 

NGDC is committed to providing findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable data (FAIR data) and this includes reviewing access to legacy datasets. The release of over 500 plans demonstrates our commitment to being a trusted provider of geological data and knowledge.

Alison Steven, BGS Data Operations and Governance Manger (NGDC).

The plans can be viewed via the BGS non-coal mining plans viewer and can be filtered by selecting ‘Abandonment plan’ from the plan type drop-down menu.

These abandoned mine plans are part of a collection of over 70 000 plans delivered through the viewer, including sixteen different plan types such as open cast, quarry and cave plans. The portal can be searched by geographical area, mineral or mine name. The information returned includes mine name, mineral, geographical area, plan date (where available), whether a digital copy of the plan is available and who to contact to purchase copies of a scanned plan. 

More information

Abandoned mines plans for Northern Ireland can be accessed via the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland webpages.

Further information on the history of non-coal mining plans is available through the BGS website.

Please contact the Mining Remediation Authority for any enquiries relating to coal mine plans in Scotland, England and Wales – or visit their online map viewer.