I THINK MINING

Ireland is not a place typically associated with mining. This pictures, however, shows the landscape where a new mine is proposed. Below the picture, I quote from a news report about the proposed mine; the tone is so gentile and civilized and so different from what one normally reads that it is worth looking at again to see how a civilized country does it.

Extracts from a report written by Neill O’Neill

THE debate over recent proposals to open a gold mine near Louisburgh found its way into the local Council chamber, when the matter was discussed at a meeting of the Westport Electoral Area Committee. The meeting came a day after the man who registered the company behind the venture – Mayo’s Gold - was quoted in The Sunday Tribune as saying that he was ‘seeking support for a €25 million project to tap into area’s long-suspected precious metal deposits’. He estimated that these could be worth up to €3.4 billion – the first mention of a such a figure in relation to the controversy.

Mayo’s Gold deem their proposal a ‘tourism venture’ but have come under fire in recent weeks from the Mayo Environmental Group (MEG), who successfully spearheaded the campaign to stop large-scale commercial mining in the same region and around Croagh Patrick 20 years ago. A consultant who is involved in the project with Mayo’s Gold told The Mayo News several weeks ago that this was a ‘seven dwarf type tourist operation’ centered around ‘a small mine in Cregganbaun’. He added that the company had been offered a prospecting licence but were waiting to work together with locals before accepting it.

Speaking at the local area meeting yesterday, Cllr Margaret Adams said she would like to hear the views of people from Louisburgh, business people and those living in the area who will be affected by the proposal. Cllr Declan Dever joined his elected colleague in her calls for a meeting with Mayo’s Gold before Director of Services in the Westport Electoral Area, Mr Peter Hynes, said that several things affected such an application like legislation and the requirements one has to satisfy in relation to prospecting licences. He also said that the County Development Plan, which is being drawn up at present with the Council seeking advice regarding the issue of mining, would be a factor and added that it has yet to be seen by them what this proposal actually entails.

Seems, however, there is some mining in Ireland: take a look at this InfoMine link for more information. I note 14 mines in the country. I see that Mayo Gold, headquartered in Vancouver is primarily interested in Mexico. But can you blame them if they seek to visit such a beautiful area for to build a summer home? Maybe they should get together with Disney and develop a full-scale tourist destination based on Snow White, the seven dwarfs, and their long exploits as small-scale miners.

Which puts me in mind of my favorite picture of a miner that puts me in mind of the old-time miners of my nursery stories and those golden times reading stories to kids near bedtime. (Even though this may be construed as a blatant advert for a new InfoMine product.)