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Quartz and quartzite
united Kingdom summary 2000–2004
Commodity 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Tonnes £ thousand
Quartz and quartzite
Imports
Quartz 7 714 2 360 3 645 541 317 1 988 2 321 1 315 173 142
Quartzite 703 1 052 851 472 413 1 037 865 490 368 596
Exports
Quartz 87 146 163 94 188 86 65 176 399 234
Quartzite 190 129 125 120 1 769 563 233 270 388 321
radioactive and associated materials
united Kingdom summary 2000–2004
Commodity 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Tonnes £ thousand
radioactive and associated
materials
Imports
Natural and enriched uranium,
plutonium, artificial radioactive
isotopes, and their compounds ... ... ... ... ... 246 503 322 264 284 737 303 640 568 811
Exports
Natural and enriched uranium,
plutonium, artificial radioactive
isotopes, and their compounds ... ... ... ... ... 431 878 512 972 497 413 610 490 647 539
rare earths
united Kingdom summary 2000–2004
Commodity 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Tonnes £ thousand
rare earths
Imports
Rare earth metals (a) 226 172 64 115 136 3 337 2 404 529 978 690
Cerium compounds 2 388 2 227 3 070 2 519 1 914 6 035 8 367 8 598 7 278 3 915
Other rare earth compounds (b) 466 403 491 471 774 3 922 3 021 3 384 2 552 4 713
Ferro-cerium and other
pyrophoric alloys 14 1 34 1 9 3 745 38 102 99 32
Exports
Rare earth metals (a) 60 51 148 16 10 897 1 077 982 312 281
Cerium compounds 317 415 88 118 43 4 763 3 976 1 748 2 953 1 539
Other rare earth compounds (b) 354 329 1 128 1 105 1 130 3 716 3 764 6 772 6 055 4 669
Ferro-cerium and other
pyrophoric alloys 26 9 ... 768 197 ... 85 335 323 190
(a) Including yttrium and scandium. (b) Including yttrium and scandium compounds.
salt
Salt (sodium chloride, NaCl), occurs in nature in solid form as rock salt (halite), or in solution as brine. Rock salt occurs in beds,
commonly associated with mudstone, up to several hundred metres in thickness. Natural brine is produced by the dissolution of
salt-bearing strata by circulating groundwater or by solution mining which entails injecting water into salt beds and pumping out
the resulting salt solution. This may contain up to 26% NaCl when fully saturated.
Official figures for the production of rock salt and white (or brine) salt have not been disclosed for many years, but estimates have
been made by the BGS. Production of rock salt, which is largely used for de-icing roads, is dependent on the weather. UK sales
are estimated at 2 million tonnes in 2005. Rock salt is produced at three locations in the UK. The Winsford mine in Cheshire
operated by the Salt Union is the largest source, but large tonnages are also produced at the Boulby potash mine in the North
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