These days our thoughts are with the peoples of the Middle East, and rightly so.
However, closer to home, there is an issue which really is important in my view, but is getting very little coverage so far.
Fortunately, Jonathan Magee of the Derry People Donegal News of April 16 informed the public with his article titled, ‘Councillors call for workshop on Dalradian gold mine proposal’.
It states that councillors have called for a dedicated workshop to brief them of the implications of a proposed gold mine and processing plant near Greencastle of County Tyrone (not Greencastle of County Donegal).
Greencastle of County Tyrone is situated in the heart of the Sperrins, an area considered of outstanding beauty.
Dalradian Gold Limited, at present US- owned, has not been able to go ahead (as yet) with their explorations, as concerns were raised about the potential impact on waterways flowing into the Finn, Mourne and Foyle rivers.
In this context it is maybe good to be reminded about the process of obtaining commercial gold. In order to obtain one ounce of gold, according to reports, it is necessary to use 21,000 litres of water ( 21 cubic meters).
Also one needs in theory 28.6 grams of sodium cyanide, to be able to dissolve one ounce of gold. However, in practice it is known, that for commercial gold mining often 50 – 300 times this amount is used, as the materials are a composite of all types of minerals.
As we know, sodium cyanide is highly toxic for all life-forms. Hence, the seriousness of this situation, in case it leaks in our rivers and lands. Also ‘fracking’ is used.
It has been suggested that gold mining companies nowadays have that much experience accumulated that they can operate gold mining safely.
However, we have just to do a little Internet search for images of landscapes after gold mining…some landscapes look like piramides with terraces of pure waste materials, other images look like moon-landscapes, with scary ‘dead’ land devoid of any life.
A group which has done a lot of awareness raising is called ‘Save our Sperrins’. They say: “The extractive frontier is pushing further into rural and peripheral areas of Europe…Ireland is a hotspot in the European mining boom, 25 percent of the North and 27 percent of the South has been concessioned for mineral exploration.”
Some of their representatives invited at a workshop co-ordinated by Trocaire and ChangeMakers in the Regional Cultural Centre on the 27th of January last year, warned: “Once you let a gold company into your area for what they call ‘only exploration’, it will be near to impossible to get them out.”
Councillor McBrearty argued that elected members, as non-specialists, need expert guidance on the potential hazards associated with gold mining operations.
Therefore I suggest that they might invite representatives of ‘Save our Sperrins’, Trocaire, ChangeMakers and other experts they may know.
Much is involved for our future generations.
As a farmer expressed recently on the radio programme, ‘Ear to the Ground’ : “When we alter something on the land, we should not think in terms of one year or 10 years. We have to think on the impact it will have in a hundred or 400 years.”
Yours,
Myriam Mac Cionnaith,
Letterkenny
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