LISTEN ¦ Environmental group concerned over gold mining operations in County Tyrone village

A spokesperson for Dalradian said:

“Dalradian is open about its proposals. We have welcomed 1,300 people so far to the site to visit the underground workings and learn about how the mine will work. This is an open invitation and anyone taking part in these ‘tunnel tours’ can ask directly about unsubstantiated claims which are being made about the proposal.

“Safety and environmental standards are integral to Dalradian’s current operations and are fundamental to its planning application. The proposal will create 350 jobs with an average salary of £40,000 and we anticipate that the vast majority of these will be taken by local people.

“Many of the claims made by the two SOS callers on Monday’s show were wrong and were made without any supporting evidence. For example, they said that our site will process material from mines from all over Ireland. However, our application clearly states that only material from our site will be processed. This is not the first time we’ve had to go on the public record to correct this misinformation deliberately spread by SOS. They also claimed that we had polluted a local river. This is not the case and they did not provide any evidence to support that claim. They stated that our operations will only last for 10 years while our application specifies a minimum of 20 years. This group has also refused offers for meaningful engagement with Dalradian.

“We extend the offer of a ‘tunnel tour’ to anyone who is interested in our proposal and wishes to find out the facts. You can book your spot by contacting our Gortin office on Tel: 028 8164 8012.”