Sunday 10 February 2013

Seabed mining off the North Cornish coast, why not a trial

I've read with interest plans revealed that the sea bad off Cornwall could be mined for minerals. On the one hand it promises jobs, investement and crucially Cornwall exporting and bringing money in. On the other there are widespread concerns that dredging style activity could have an adverse effect on wildlife, the fishing industry and beachgoers.

This is a great dilemma Cornwall shouldn't spurn economic development and a possibly emerging industry but neither should it sacrifice the environment to do so. Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Surfers Against Sewage are right to be cautious, sediment from centuries of mining churned up uncontrollably could have a long detrimental effect. To be fair the company behind the plan Marine Minerals ltd claim that their methods don't risk churning up the seabed and wouldn't pose the risks feared. (see this This is Cornwall article for example). This is claim and counter claim and its hard to know personally who is nearer to the mark. So why can't we have a limited trial, closely monitored in conjunction with concerned groups. Then if environmental concerns are well founded we can stop it and conversely if tin can be profitably extracted cleanly and efficently it can carry on.

There's a wider point here, that's weighing up environmental concerns against economic ones. We've seen this in Falmouth over the harbour issue and potential dredging there. Who knows perhaps more dredging elsewhere to clear waterways or mine minerals will come up in the future. It concerns me that there's a lot at stake either way but yet there doesn't seem to be a policy from Cornwall Council or central government. To my mind its the job of policy making bodies to set regulations and to weigh up competeing concerns and to ensure safeguards for our environment. It's a debate people in Cornwall are having the Cornish media has been very good at provoking this debate and giving concerned parties and companies a chance to give their side of the story. It's time this debate was had by those who can set the rules and can monitor and regulate activites and I sincerely hope they put the people of Cornwall and what we want at the forefront of this process.

3 comments:



  1. by poldice

    Saturday, February 09 2013, 5:03PM
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    “Complete utter tosh, this is alluvial tin washed into the sea when the mines were working, its recovery will cause minimum seabed disturbance whereas moving old spoil heaps around will cause arsenic etc to leach back into the soil or watercourses.

    Ironically when Cornwalls mines were working everything went into the sea with little effect the Red River was literally red and the mackerel used to hang around the edge of the plume to hide from predators, much the same at Geevor, now the plumes are gone and the mackerel have disappeared.

    The real problems are detergents, bleaches, pesticide residues and fertiliser runoff which unlike a mineral plume are man made persistent chemicals which do harm sealife.”


    Read more: http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Company-defends-controversial-tin-mining-scheme/story-18090654-detail/story.html#ixzz2KWM55qVk
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  2. Just crack on and get started, producing tin is what Cornwall has always done, the surfers are a bunch of Johnnie-come-latelys who think they can monopolise every beach its time for them to hop back into their clapped out V-Dubs and butt out

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  3. by poldice

    Sunday, February 10 2013, 10:58AM
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    “Agree Phil_lip that it is easy (at a cost) to build a controlling environment on lans ans it will be neccessary to do so when world commodity prices dictate the viability.

    But having witnessed the recent storms where every single swell will move tens of thousands of substrate around to a depth of several feet in some places given the way sand levels rise and fall at Porthtowan this ove time will probably have concentrated heavy tin bearing sand in defined pockets which presumably will be what interests the dredgers.

    Back in the late sixties a Stevenson trawler was chartered and spent several months taking core samples in both Ligger and Bassets Bay, there has been other sporadic work done in the interim, at the same time the Baymead was dredging in St Ives Bay off the mouth of the Red River, the sand being processed at Lelant to no siscernable ill effect.

    Remember that tin in itself is not particularly toxic unlike arsenic lead or cadmium which are not involved in this scenario, I am a North Coast born and reared Cornish man who loves the place and would fight like a Tiger to prevent harm to it, however producing tin is what we have always done so lets get cracking and do it again, as Harry Safari said in the song that Radio Emmet will not play, "Lets hear it for the miners- who we hope will mine again".”


    Read more: http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Company-defends-controversial-tin-mining-scheme/story-18090654-detail/story.html#ixzz2KWOsLJY9
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