Foster congratulates the geological survey of Northern Ireland on two awards

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster has congratulated the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI) on receiving two prestigious awards.

The GSNI received one national and one international award for the innovative use and economic promotion of scientific information, following its successful Tellus project.

Northern Ireland received the annual award for promoting investment in mineral exploration, from the international publication ‘Mining Journal’, for 'The country that has shown the most improvement in terms of attractiveness to mineral investors, during 2008/9'. Five countries, including Northern Ireland, were nominated in this category, and the award was determined by industry voting.

In October 2007 the GSNI released data from the £6million ‘Tellus’ project. These new detailed geochemical and airborne geophysical datasets, which covered the whole of Northern Ireland, have boosted mineral exploration to unprecedented levels. The number of licences has trebled since the data were released, and 68% of Northern Ireland is now under prospecting licence, or licence application. Natural resource companies have committed to invest more than three times the cost of the Tellus survey.

The GSNI also received the 2008 Innovation and Best Practice (Central Government) Award from the Association of Geographic Information, also in recognition of Tellus. The new data collected by the Tellus project has been innovatively analysed to provide a comprehensive interpretation of the geology and landscape of Northern Ireland, which has been made accessible to industry, government and the general public. This is a UK-wide award and is judged on a submission to a panel of national experts.

Arlene Foster said: “I offer warm congratulations to the GSNI on winning these prestigious awards. The awards complement and build upon the Public Relations gold medal awards that the Tellus project received in 2006.

“The geological data generated from the Tellus Project will be important in the management of natural resources, energy, land-use and the environment, and will ultimately help to develop Northern Ireland’s economy.

“The Tellus survey made Northern Ireland the most surveyed part of the planet. The detailed level of geo-environmental data that was produced is world class and Northern Ireland can now become a leading example in the management of strategic land-related policy.”

Notes to Editors:

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