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Campaigning to protect our water, air, land & health from the toxic pollution of goldmining

Mind Our Earth – Our Mined Earth 28 April 2026

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385 Current Prospecting Licences - Pink areas – 27% of RoI given out in PLs

Pale Green areas – open with incentives

Apple Green areas - open, no incentives

Orange areas - prospecting licences offered

Purple areas - National Park & other excluded areas

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5 Current State Mining licences

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25%+ of N Ireland given for Prospecting

ROI 27%

Scotland 7.7%

Wales 6.4%

England 0.2%

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Ecological Impacts

Removal of Peat
Use of Explosives
Acid Mine Drainage
Heavy metals
Radon Gas
Diesel fumes
Abstraction of water
Discharge Consents
Slippage of DSF/ FTS
Pollution of water, air, land,habitats/wildlife

Slide 6: Why do we oppose goldmining?

* Dalradian has applied to remove 74 acres of peatland in order to build their infrastructure. Peatland is now well known as an effective carbon store, which is particularly important in this time of Climate Change.

* Dalradian has applied for an underground mine 900 metres deep into the earth. They have applied to use explosives twice a week, every week for 20 years. Blasting with explosives will produce ammonium nitrate emissions which are extremely toxic (nitrogen dioxide) as well as a potent greenhouse gas (nitrous oxide).

*The thousands of tons of rock, extracted from underground, contain pyrite/sulphides and when this rock is exposed to air and water (rain), it will produce sulphuric acid or acid mine drainage, which once started cannot be stopped.

* Sulphuric acid/acid mine drainage strips out other heavy metals from the rock, including arsenic, mercury, cadmium, chromium, lead, etc and these heavy metals will be washed or leak or leach into the water table, rivers & streams. Dalradian plan to store the waste rock ground to the fine consistency of flour in a 18 storey high (59 metres) waste mountain, called a Dry Stack Facility. The dust containing heavy metals will also be blown about in the air & enter people’s lungs, causing respiratory diseases and cancers.

* The whole North west of Ireland is high in radon gas. People are required to put a protective barrier in the foundations of their houses in order to prevent it seeping through. A mine 900 metres deep will release radioactive contaminants into the air, causing more cancers.

* Dalradian has applied to use 3.5 million litres of diesel on site per year for 20 years - diesel emissions contain carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, particulate matter & nitrogen oxides, which are hazardous to both health and environment.

* Dalradian has applied to abstract half a million gallons of water per day, every day of the year for 20 years from the bog/peatland surrounding their proposed site. This will dry up the bog/peatland, negatively impacting on streams and rivers in the area as well as destroying a major carbon store.

* Dalradian has applied to discharge a toxic cocktail of 24 heavy metals into the two local rivers, Owenkillew and Owenreagh, which are designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) because of the presence of Freshwater Pearl Mussels, salmon spawning, brown trout and otters. These two rivers are the headwaters of the River Foyle (also ASSI) which flows to Derry.

* Slippage of DSF, Dry Stack Facility, a marketing term as it is not technically dry - it has at least 15% water content. It is also called a Filtered Tailings Stack. Dalradian propose to store 4.8 million cubic metres of mine waste in this huge stack 59 metres high - that is 18 storeys. 5 such Filtered Tailings Stacks have collapsed in the past 3 years in other countries. Two eminent American experts (Dr Emerman & Dr Vicks) have stated there will be “inevitable failure.”

* Biodiversity impacts - lots of special flora and fauna, birds, bats, animals, insects, plants & trees will be under threat from the toxic pollution of a goldmine. Drumlea & Mullan Woods are designated as Areas of Special Scientific Interest because of their old sessile oak trees. The Black Bog is designated as a Ramsar site, as it is the largest area of raised bog in Europe.

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Where we are now…….50,000 Objections

PUBLIC INQUIRY

SUSPENDED Jan. 2025 Transboundary Consultation

RECOMMENCED April 2026 – In-person participation only

No livestreaming & no recording

People from RoI excluded

95 New files from Dalradian Gold – no consultation

No Feasibility Study

Planning Dept. “walked through a bespoke spreadsheet” “Had to make them feel comfortable”

No Habitats Regulation Assessment

No location details of exploration tunnels

Product no longer Gold but a “Concentrate”

Site for Processing the Concentrate not identified

May be sold on at “Mine Gate” to “Broker”

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Contact:

: SaveOurSperrins@outlook.com

: #saveoursperrins

: @SaveOurSperrins

: SaveOurSperrins

🎙️The Sperrins Podcast - Marella sums up each day of the inquiry in 10 minutes or less: https://dontmineus.com/the-sperrins-podcast 📝Emmet McAleer writes a succinct and piercing analysis day by exhausting day: https://www.facebook.com/share/1bdaSwizsC * See newly released Sperrins case study by An Taisce (National Trust for Ireland): https://www.antaisce.org/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=8a6372e2-aa04-40e5-8034-42b569121b57