1. Relevant Authorities and Legislation
1.1 What regulates mining law?
Regulation of the mining industry follows the devolution of
certain powers relating to mining from the government of the United
Kingdom to the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
As such, some law applies to the whole of the UK, while some
applies only to a particular part of the UK.
The principal sources of law in the UK are Acts of Parliament
and associated statutory instruments, common law (essentially case
law) and European Union law with effect in UK domestic law (some of
which will be replaced by new domestic law following the UK's
withdrawal from the EU). Mineral leases, planning consents and
environmental consents will also contain terms and conditions which
mine operators need to comply with, and many of these will be
tailored to the particular project and the nature and location of
the operations, imposing, for example, restrictions on traffic
movements, limits on
