Sperrins gold mine: Man arrested after incident
- Published
An artist's impression of the gold mine site would look like
A man has been arrested at the site of a controversial gold mine in County Tyrone.
The man is in custody on suspicion of obstructing a highway and resisting police after the incident on Wednesday.
Mining company Dalradian wants to open the gold mine in Camcosy Road, Gortin.
It follows a separate incident on Saturday when a man chained himself to a drill before leaving the site voluntarily after being spoken to by police.
Dalradian claims there are up to £3bn worth of deposits in the area near Greencastle in the Sperrins.
It also said that the 25-year mine operation will create hundreds of jobs and provide a £750m boost to the Northern Ireland economy.
But campaigners have opposed the proposed mine, raising concerns about the use of cyanide in the extraction process.
They also object to the plan to dispose of large quantities of crushed rock by contouring it to the landscape and over-planting with vegetation.
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In a statement issued on Facebook, the Save our Sperrins campaign identified the protestor who left the site voluntarily on Saturday after chaining himself to a drill as its chairman, Cormac McAleer.
It said Mr McAleer brought the drill to a halt after chaining himself "to the control station for the entire afternoon, standing steadfast until the last Dalradian... employee abandoned the site".
- Published4 December 2018
