Donegal Greens object to gold mining....

Canadian multinational threatens health

Following prospecting licences being offered to the Tournigan Gold Corporation by the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to prospect for Base Metals (which includes Uranium), Silver and Gold the Donegal Greens call on the Minister to revoke such licences to preserve the beauty and natural environment of the areas planned to be exploited by a known open cast mining company.

The areas affected as published in the local media will be an area from Lettermore to Clonleigh North (West to East) and from Magheraboy to Gleneely (North to South) and also in the Redcastle and Whitecastle areas of Inishowen. The Redcastle-Whitecastle area harbours a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and the more significant area in the Lagan and Finn Valley can be regarded as the ‘Golden Vale’ of Donegal harbouring the largest density of population in the county and drained by three major rivers: the Deele, the Finn and the Swilly. Open cast mining therefore obviously presents significant hazards to all environments: human, marine, aquatic and agricultural.


Tournigan Gold Corporation is already operating in County Tyrone and has been licensed to cover 346km2 North West of Omagh Town. This entails the extraction of some 468,097 tonnes of earth, which is then washed by Chemical mixture, which includes Cyanide and millions of gallons of water to find a few grammes of Base Metals. In their own survey of the region they claim “there are many stream and soil geochemical and trench defined targets throughout the area that require further work”. This simply means leaving a trail of environmental destruction behind them. The pollution, which this “Gold” Corporation will bring to the County, will be left for our future generations to live with. In the U.S.A. all along the whole west cost there are many lakes that are forbidden for people to swim in due to the contamination of heavy metals through mining carried out by such companies.


The Donegal Greens have drawn up a petition and call upon the Citizens of Donegal to reject this outrageous desecration of the beauty of our County, which we all hold so dear.


PRO Frank Gallagher


Donegal North East Constituency Group
Contact: Frank Gallagher, Flat 2, Rahan, Letterkenny
Tel: 074 25168 Mob: 086 3772913
E- Mail dlgreen@eircom.net

Press Release: Donegal Greens ….13th August 2003