Saturday 5 November 2011

History of the Cavanacaw Mine.








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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