History of the Cavanacaw Mine.
In
1995, Omagh Minerals were granted planning permission for an open cast pit,but only after
years of consultation and at the time the longest running public inquiry
in the
history of Ireland. Approval (K/1992/0713/F) was granted specifically
for an “Opencast pit for the extraction of gold and silver and
associated minerals, with associated plant and storage”. Many expert
witnesses gave evidence at the inquiry about the
likely environmental impact of such a project.
40 planning conditions were agreed for the protection of
the environment and the amenity of local people.
The environmental statement
and submissions to the public inquiry, set out in the clearest terms where
any surplus rock from the mine was supposed to go.
The ES outlines a scheme to accentuate the original level
of the site to accommodate all of the waste rock surplus to requirement, On
site storage for half a million cubic metres of rock, (approximately 1.5
million tons) was provided for. The acquisition of a further 40 acres
of contagious land at the mine in 2012 now makes available a great deal more
area for this purpose. There is no mention of rock being removed from site
anywhere in the environmental statement, planning permission, or indeed the PAC
report, specifically to allow for the motoring and containment of acid rock
drainage from the waste rock, should it occur, and also because of the
inadequacy of the local road network.
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